Pension fraud in Shimla, some villagers aged 44 under police scanner

More than 40 people aged between 44 and 54 were falsely shown to be elderly in official panchayat records here in Shimla to enable them to receive old-age pensions, police said on Friday. As part of the ongoing investigation, officials are currently scrutinising copies of the family register issued by the panchayat, birth certificates, pension applications, and other documents related to the verification process.

More than 40 people aged between 44 and 54 were falsely shown to be ''elderly'' in official panchayat records here in Shimla to enable them to receive old-age pensions, police said on Friday. This comes at a time when the process of filing nominations for elections to 3,754 gram panchayats in Himachal Pradesh is underway. The alleged fraud by about 45 people was done primarily between 2021 and 2025 by tampering with the panchayat family register in Tagnu-Janglikh panchayat of Chirgaon in Rohru subdivision of Shimla district. Himachal Pradesh government provides old-age pension of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,700 per month to residents aged 60 and above whose annual income does not exceed Rs 35,000. Authorities suspect that alterations to records on such a massive scale would not have been possible without collusion by officials. Consequently, the roles of the then-serving panchayat secretary and several other employees have also come under the scanner. Police registered an FIR for cheating, forgery, creating fraudulent documents and using counterfeit records under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and initiated the investigation. The case was registered following an email complaint by the District Welfare Officer, Shimla. After a meticulous examination of all the facts, the department lodged a formal complaint with the police, officials said. The 45 people in the dock include about 20 from Tagnu village and around 25 from the Janglikh area. The list of beneficiaries comprises both men and women. Villagers said that rumours regarding this irregularity had been circulating within the panchayat for a long time but the matter has now come to light after an inspection of records. There are also allegations that certain people had been receiving pensions since as early as 2018-19. As part of the ongoing investigation, officials are currently scrutinising copies of the family register issued by the panchayat, birth certificates, pension applications, and other documents related to the verification process. Official records were allegedly tampered with using forged birth certificates and records that were allegedly manipulated. Relevant documents and records have been taken into custody and will be subjected to a thorough investigation. Police are looking into at which stage the fraudulent documents were fabricated and who was responsible for altering the official government records, they said.