27,000 births in 3 months in a village of 1,500! Yavatmal panchayat logs massive CRS anomaly; most names from West Bengal, UP

By: Bhaskar.Mehare

YAVATMAL: A Yavatmal village with a population of 1,500 has clocked 27,397 births in the civil registration system (CRS) in three months from September to November, ringing alarm bells about a massive cyber fraud. The shocker came from Shendursani Gram Panchayat in Arni taluka of Yavatmal district.

Even more concerning, the CRS ID (MH18241RE) of Shendursani gram panchayat was found to be mapped in Mumbai, further pointing to cyber criminals. Following the revelation, the district health officer (DHO) filed a formal complaint at Yavatmal city police station on Tuesday.




BJP leader Kirit Somaiya visited the village on Wednesday and demanded a thorough probe. Talking to media, Somaiya said credentials of the gram panchayat's computer operator appear to have been misused by someone. He said that 99.99% of the names found in these records belong to people from West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and nearby regions. "I have spoken to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and demanded that all these birth registration entries be cancelled," said Somaiya.

According to govt directives, a verification drive is underway to identify and cancel illegal delayed birth and death registrations. During this exercise, extension officers of the health department in Arni discovered 27,397 birth entries and seven death entries recorded between September and November 2025 in the CRS software — figures that were grossly disproportionate to the village's actual population.

Following the discovery, the DHO informed zilla parishad chief executive officer Mandar Patki, who immediately constituted an inquiry committee headed by deputy chief executive officer of the panchayat department. The committee subsequently conducted an on-site inspection at Shendursani.

The inquiry revealed that 27,397 birth records and seven death records did not fall within the gram panchayat's jurisdiction and were deemed highly suspicious. A technical investigation was then initiated through the deputy director of health services, Pune. Technical analysis using the state login system confirmed that the CRS ID of Shendursani has been mapped to Mumbai.

The matter was further referred to the office of additional registrar general of India, New Delhi, and the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Their assessment pointed to a strong likelihood that the entries were created through cyber fraud. This finding was communicated on December 11 to the deputy director of health services, Pune, who subsequently informed the ZP.

An offence has been registered under various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and under the Information Technology Act. Police inspector Nandkishor Kale said, "A complaint regarding irregularities in birth registration entries of Shendursani has been received and a probe has been launched."