Police in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region arrest three policemen after an AI-assisted government audit flags alleged salary fraud worth around ₹2 crore. NDTV, Deccan Chronicle, and Free Press Journal report that the accused are three police constables linked to the salary section at the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP) in Jagdalpur. Authorities say they allegedly inflated salary figures over an extended period and siphoned off funds estimated between about ₹1.5 crore and ₹2 crore.

According to Free Press Journal, the fraud allegedly occurred by editing soft copies of salary records before they are processed, with the accused raising their own pay and that of the other two constables. Investigators state the irregularities were difficult to detect earlier because police salary expenditure frequently changes due to transfers, postings, and personnel strength variations.

The reports also say auditors used AI tools to analyze large sets of salary data covering roughly 2,000 personnel, identifying anomalies that reportedly remained unnoticed for nearly three years. Police have booked the accused for offences including cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust, and misappropriation of government funds, and they are produced in court for remand.