A bizarre case of fraud has emerged in Chhattisgarh, where a man allegedly opened a bank account in the name of Bollywood actress Sunny Leone and had been siphoning off ₹1,000 every month under a state government scheme for married women.
The Mahtari Vandan Yojana, a program introduced by the BJP government, aims to provide financial assistance to married women in the state by depositing ₹1,000 into their accounts each month. However, authorities recently discovered that one of the accounts receiving this money was registered under Sunny Leone’s name, raising serious concerns about the integrity of the scheme.
Virendra Joshi, the individual accused of setting up and managing the fraudulent account, is under investigation. A formal case has been filed against him, and authorities are also scrutinizing the officials who were responsible for verifying eligible beneficiaries of the program.
The incident took place in Talur village, located in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district. District Collector Haris S has ordered the Women and Child Development Department to investigate the matter thoroughly, including actions to freeze the bank account and recover the funds. The issue was brought to light following media reports that alerted the authorities to the fraudulent activity.
The scandal has triggered a political storm in the state, with the opposition Congress party accusing the ruling BJP of widespread corruption within the scheme. Congress leader Deepak Baij claimed that more than half of the beneficiaries under the Mahtari Vandan Yojana are fake. In response, Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao defended the initiative, claiming that the BJP government was fulfilling promises to help women, unlike the Congress administration in the past.
