MP Kanyadan Yojana Fraud: ED Freezes Assets in ₹30.18 Cr Scam Involving 5,923 Ghost Marriages
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In a major financial crackdown against corruption in welfare administration, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accelerated its money laundering probe into the multi-crore Chief Minister Kanyadan Yojana scam in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha district. The central anti-money laundering agency provisionally attached immovable and movable assets valued at ₹5.37 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The punitive action targets Shobhit Tripathi, the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sironj Janpad Panchayat, and his primary aide Hemant Sahu, following forensic revelations establishing the fraudulent siphoning of ₹30.18 crore by fabricating 5,923 non-existent marriages under the state-sponsored social assistance umbrella.
Ghost Marriages and Systematic Embezzlement: The Sironj Modus Operandi
Under the welfare framework formulated by the Madhya Pradesh government, the flagship Chief Minister Kanyadan Yojana was instituted to provide direct financial aid of ₹51,000 for the wedding ceremonies of underprivileged daughters and registered construction laborers. Investigators discovered that between 2019 and November 2021, Tripathi, in active criminal conspiracy with administrative accomplices, systematically cleared and disbursed approximately ₹30.18 crore across 5,923 suspicious applications. The nexus generated forged documents, manipulated identity proofs, and manufactured artificial beneficiary files representing individuals who had never tied the knot or were ineligible under statutory scheme criteria.
Lockdown Weddings and Cash Extractions: How Public Welfare Was Siphoned
The forensic audit unveiled that bank accounts were aggressively floated using duplicate and falsified paperwork to serve as conduits for state treasury funds. Once the subsidy allocations of ₹51,000 per phantom union were deposited directly by the treasury, the funds were swiftly withdrawn through coordinated cash extractions in structured installments. The fraudulent network operated with brazen impunity, sanctioning large volumes of marriage payouts even during the height of the strict nationwide COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, when all public wedding ceremonies, community gatherings, and social functions were banned under the Disaster Management Act.
EOW Charges to ED Custody: Legal Noose Tightens Around Corrupt Officials
The federal probe originated from a primary First Information Report (FIR) formally registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in Bhopal, which brought the initial criminal breach of trust and corruption charges against the perpetrators. Taking cognizance of the predicate police complaints, the Enforcement Directorate initiated an independent anti-money laundering investigation to trace the illicit money trail and confiscate proceeds of crime. Agency operatives arrested the prime accused, Shobhit Tripathi, on September 2, 2026, and he remains detained in judicial custody as forensic investigators continue tracing additional shell entities and unearthing assets acquired through stolen welfare allocations.
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