3 Things Govt funds diverted, ricin terror plot, and NCERT textbook pulled back
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Feb 26, 2026 Brendan Dabhi, Gujarat reporter for The Indian Express who covered a ricin-linked bioterror probe. Hamza Khan, investigative reporter who exposed large-scale welfare fund diversion in Rajasthan. They discuss a ricin-linked investigation taken over by the NIA, how scammers exploited welfare portals and forged records, and why NCERT pulled a Class 8 social science textbook over a judiciary corruption passage.
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Layered Network Merged Local Agents With Tech Operators
- Scammers combined on-the-ground agents with technical operators and complicit officials to create a multi-tier fraud network handling data collection, forgery and portal submissions.
- Ramavatar Saini recruited e-service–savvy agents, used subagents to gather Aadhaar and bank details, then operators and aides funneled data into government portals, says Hamza Khan.
Three Schemes Accounted For Most Theft
- The fraud targeted three schemes: PM Kisan, disability pensions and the disaster management compensation portal, exploiting weak eligibility checks and verification steps.
- Investigators found almost 20,000 bogus disability pensions in two towns and up to 90% invalid DMIS entries, per Hamza Khan's reporting.
Design Flaws Made PM Kisan Especially Vulnerable
- Systemic gaps enabled exploitation: PM Kisan had lax eligibility, auto-approval windows and cross-state applications that scammers exploited.
- Hamza Khan notes auto-approval of pending applications and lack of family caps made PM Kisan especially vulnerable.