MSP payment fraud unearthed, four arrested

The Cybercrime Division of the Punjab Police has unearthed a minimum support price (MSP) payment fraud with the arrest of four persons who manipulated ‘Anaaj Kharid Portal’ to divert crop payment of farmers to their own bank accounts.

V Neeraja, ADGP, Cybercrime Division, said those held had been identified as Manish, Jasvir Singh, Angrej Singh and Balwinder Singh. She said they also recovered digital devices and routers used to commit the fraud.

The ADGP said the accused replaced mobile numbers of the farmers with their cellphone numbers to update bank account information.

To avoid detection, the accused used to restore the original details after the payment was processed, she said, adding that the state-wide operation was being conducted to nab other persons involved in the scam.

In a complaint, the Food and Civil Supplies Department said some farmers had not received payment for selling their produce during the 2024 paddy season.

Probe revealed that the payment of these farmers had been credited to several bank accounts belonging to different persons. The ADGP said close scrutiny of user data and bank accounts revealed unauthorised access to the portal.

“We came to know that a mobile number and a cellphone was purchased from SAS Nagar district on fake identity, which was used to obtain one-time password for altering bank accounts of farmers,” said the ADGP.