AI Uncovers Rs 2 Crore Salary Fraud by Three Chhattisgarh Cops
In a first-of-its-kind audit, artificial intelligence tools have uncovered a salary fraud involving three police constables in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region. The accused allegedly siphoned off nearly Rs 2 crore over three years by inflating their salaries.
The three constables—Girish Rai, Rajkumar Katlam, and Hemant Mathew—were arrested this week after government auditors used AI to detect the discrepancy. According to police officials, this marks the first instance where AI was employed to conduct such a financial audit within the department.
Investigators revealed that the key suspect, Girish Rai, was posted as an assistant in the salary section of the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP) in Jagdalpur. His role allowed him to manipulate salary records, resulting in inflated payments to himself and his accomplices. Rai, Katlam, and Mathew are currently in custody and face charges of criminal breach of trust and cheating.
The fraud came to light when the state's finance department implemented an AI-based auditing system to review salary disbursements. The system flagged anomalies in the salary records of the three constables, prompting further scrutiny. Subsequent manual verification confirmed the inflated amounts.
Police officials have stated that the use of AI in auditing has proven effective in detecting irregularities that might have gone unnoticed through traditional methods. They expect the technology to be deployed more widely in future audits to prevent similar frauds.
The arrested constables have been remanded to judicial custody, and investigations are ongoing to determine if any other individuals were involved in the scheme.
