Official, who won Rs 50 lakh on KBC, arrested in Rs 2.6-crore flood relief scam
Amita Singh Tomar held the post of Baroda tehsildar at the time of the incident, and along with other accused, she siphoned off approximately Rs 2.57 crore by transferring the money into 127 fake bank accounts.
A woman tehsildar, who gained countrywide fame after winning Rs 50 lakh on the 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' in 2011, was arrested on Thursday from Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior for allegedly embezzling relief funds meant for flood victims in a Rs 2.57-crore scam.
Amita Singh Tomar was the tehsildar of Baroda at the time of the incident in 2021, when flood relief funds were distributed in Sheopur district. She, along with nearly 25 patwaries and more than 100 middlemen, siphoned off approximately Rs 2.57 crore by transferring the money into 127 fake bank accounts.
The irregularities came to light during an audit conducted by the Baroda Deputy Collector, following which an FIR was registered at the police station.
Investigations revealed that during the distribution of the relief funds, relatives and acquaintances of the accused were falsely shown as flood victims to facilitate the fraudulent transfers. Tehsil office employees and middlemen are suspected to have colluded in the scam. So far, over 100 individuals have been named as accused, including Tomar and 25 patwaris.
Tomar made several attempts to evade arrest. She first filed a pre-arrest bail plea in the Gwalior bench of the High Court, which was rejected. Then, she approached the Supreme Court with a Special Leave Petition (SLP), seeking a pre-arrest bail plea, but that was also dismissed on March 17, 2026.
Police registered a case under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 467 and 468 (forgery), 409 (criminal breach of trust), and 120B (criminal conspiracy), along with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Following the rejection of her bail plea, police arrested Tomar on Thursday from her Gwalior residence. She had been removed as the Vijaypur tehsildar just a day before.
Sheopur Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kumar Agrawal confirmed the arrest, and told India Today that the investigation is ongoing and the involvement of more officials and staff is likely to emerge.
In recent years, Amita Singh Tomar has been embroiled in controversy over her social media posts and comments, criticising administrative actions. She also stirred a row for making objectionable comments on a post related to the Constitution. She had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding frequent transfers and expressing dissatisfaction over not being allocated the tehsildar's post in 2023.
A woman tehsildar, who gained countrywide fame after winning Rs 50 lakh on the 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' in 2011, was arrested on Thursday from Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior for allegedly embezzling relief funds meant for flood victims in a Rs 2.57-crore scam.
Amita Singh Tomar was the tehsildar of Baroda at the time of the incident in 2021, when flood relief funds were distributed in Sheopur district. She, along with nearly 25 patwaries and more than 100 middlemen, siphoned off approximately Rs 2.57 crore by transferring the money into 127 fake bank accounts.
The irregularities came to light during an audit conducted by the Baroda Deputy Collector, following which an FIR was registered at the police station.
Investigations revealed that during the distribution of the relief funds, relatives and acquaintances of the accused were falsely shown as flood victims to facilitate the fraudulent transfers. Tehsil office employees and middlemen are suspected to have colluded in the scam. So far, over 100 individuals have been named as accused, including Tomar and 25 patwaris.
Tomar made several attempts to evade arrest. She first filed a pre-arrest bail plea in the Gwalior bench of the High Court, which was rejected. Then, she approached the Supreme Court with a Special Leave Petition (SLP), seeking a pre-arrest bail plea, but that was also dismissed on March 17, 2026.
Police registered a case under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 467 and 468 (forgery), 409 (criminal breach of trust), and 120B (criminal conspiracy), along with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Following the rejection of her bail plea, police arrested Tomar on Thursday from her Gwalior residence. She had been removed as the Vijaypur tehsildar just a day before.
Sheopur Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kumar Agrawal confirmed the arrest, and told India Today that the investigation is ongoing and the involvement of more officials and staff is likely to emerge.
In recent years, Amita Singh Tomar has been embroiled in controversy over her social media posts and comments, criticising administrative actions. She also stirred a row for making objectionable comments on a post related to the Constitution. She had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding frequent transfers and expressing dissatisfaction over not being allocated the tehsildar's post in 2023.
