The Andhra Pradesh police department has uncovered a significant scandal related to the diversion of funds collected as fines for traffic rule violations through e-challans. A staggering amount of Rs 36.53 crore was fraudulently siphoned off from fines collected for traffic rule violations. The key accused in this fraudulent scheme include the son-in-law of a retired Director General of Police (DGP), as well as two others. This scandal was brought to light following an internal investigation by the police department.
Guntur Range Inspector-General Palaraju disclosed that Kommireddy Avinash, the son-in-law of retired DGP Nanduri Sambasiva Rao, his younger sister Akshitha, and one individual named Ravikiran are the main culprits involved in this alleged scam.
According to the Inspector-General, the irregularities were noticed when Tirupati Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Narsappa identified discrepancies in the e-challan amounts collected on the first day compared to the following four days. Subsequently, an inquiry was initiated into the transactions conducted from May 1 to May 20 of the current year.
On August 31, after noticing these discrepancies, DSP Narsappa reported the matter to senior police officers, leading to the initiation of an internal investigation by the police department.
The police department has been using online services to collect e-challans since 2015, with Krishna Solutions being the company responsible for this service. Users were charged a fee of Rs 5 for each transaction. From June 2017, the police began using the services of another company, Data Evolve.
In December 2018, an open tender was issued for the annual payment of Rs 2 crore for e-challan collection. Krishna Solutions quoted Rs 1.97 crore per annum, while Data Evolve made an exceptionally low bid of just one rupee, according to Palaraju.
In response to questions from police officials, Data Evolve claimed they would initially operate on a non-profit basis before expanding to other states in the country. Consequently, the contract was awarded to Data Evolve, a company operated by Kommireddy Avinash, Akshitha, and Ravi Kiran. Starting in 2019, the organization used various payment gateways, including Paytm, AP Online, Mee Seva, cards, Jack Pay, Mobikwik, and RazorPay, to collect funds, which were subsequently deposited into the DGP’s account.
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