A police investigation in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, has uncovered an alleged compensation fraud involving forged snakebite death records, leading to multiple arrests, including a doctor from Nagpur, Maharashtra. Authorities say the investigation remains ongoing, with additional doctors and public officials under scrutiny. According to investigators, the alleged racket operated between 2019 and 2024, exploiting the state's financial assistance scheme that provides ₹4 lakh to the families of people who die from snakebites.
So far, investigators have identified 16 fraudulent compensation claims, with the total alleged fraud estimated at about ₹64 lakh. Police have registered 16 FIRs and allege that the accused used old inquest cases involving deaths from illnesses, cancer, suicide, and other causes to create fabricated records identifying snakebite as the cause of death. The forged…
