Overview
- Three constables — Girish Rai, Rajkumar Katlam and Hemant Mathew — were arrested and remanded to 14 days of judicial custody this week after an inquiry into Jagdalpur police payroll irregularities.
- Government auditors used AI to analyse salary records for about 2,000 personnel and the tool flagged unusual rises in salary expenditure that prompted a detailed probe.
- Investigators say Rai, who processed salary bills, edited soft copies of pay records, admitted to inflating his pay and those of the two colleagues, and is accused of arranging similar increases for others under the pretext of loans.
- Police estimate the trio siphoned between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 2 crore from October 2023 to May 2026 by making small, recurring overpayments that blended with normal transfer and posting fluctuations.
- A formal case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita lists cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of government funds; investigators are questioning identified beneficiaries and reviewing payroll controls to seek recoveries and tighten record safeguards.