BHOPAL: In 2011, Madhya Pradesh revenue department official Amita Singh Tomar made headlines when she appeared on the popular quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) and won Rs 50 lakh, hosted by Amitabh Bachchan.
Fifteen years later, Tomar is again in the news -- but this time for serious allegations. She has been arrested by the Sheopur police in connection with a Rs 2.56 crore scam involving flood relief funds in northern Madhya Pradesh.
A day after being removed from her position as Tehsildar of Vijaypur in Sheopur district, Tomar was arrested from her Gwalior residence. The arrest followed the denial of her anticipatory bail by both the Madhya Pradesh High Court and the Supreme Court. She is a key accused in the scam involving the distribution of relief funds for the devastating 2021 floods in Baroda tehsil, Sheopur district.
During the 2021 floods, 794 families in Baroda tehsil were identified to receive state government relief funds. However, investigations revealed that Tomar colluded with 22 patwaris (revenue officials) to divert Rs 2.56 crore meant for flood victims into 127 bank accounts. These accounts, held by more than 85 individuals, were not flood victims but relatives or associates of the patwaris.
The revenue department’s probe in 2023 exposed the scam, after which the matter was handed over to the police. An FIR was lodged against at least 110 people, including the 22 patwaris and Tomar, under various sections of the IPC (420, 467, 468, 409, 120-B) for cheating, forgery, fraud, criminal breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy, along with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
According to Sheopur police superintendent Sudhir Agrawal, “Tomar, instead of properly verifying the documents and accounts of beneficiaries, signed payment orders releasing relief funds into accounts of individuals who were not residents of Baroda tehsil. She actively colluded with her subordinate staff to siphon public money.”
As of now, 25 of the 110 accused have been arrested.
Controversial Past
Tomar’s career has been marked by several controversies:
In August 2024, while posted in Guna district, she drew attention for a controversial social media post involving Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
In 2017, she wrote to PM Narendra Modi, claiming she faced repeated transfers. Earlier, during her posting in Sheopur, she had briefly resigned citing mental harassment but withdrew her resignation the next day.
Her social media posts have commented on political issues, including the Kolkata rape-murder of a trainee medic, Waqf Board matters, recovery of unaccounted money from a Congress MP in Jharkhand, and the expulsion of Mahua Moitra from Parliament in 2023.
In 2018, while posted in Sidhi district, she buried her pet dog and built a memorial on government land, justifying it as promoting love for animals and discouraging open defecation on public land.
Tomar’s story, from a celebrated KBC winner to an accused in a high-profile financial scam, marks a dramatic fall from public acclaim to legal scrutiny.