Meerut, Nov. 1 -- A man was made to cough up nearly Rs.75 lakh after he impersonated his dead father for 16 years to withdraw the latter's pension in Bareilly, officials said.

The district administration, upon uncovering the scam earlier this year, acted swiftly and recovered the entire sum withdrawn from the government treasury without lodging an FIR or initiating court proceedings, they added.

According to officials, the accused, identified as Umesh Bhardwaj, concealed the death of his father, Sohan Lal Sharma, and continued to withdraw his pension by impersonating him. The fraud went unnoticed for years, allegedly with the connivance of certain treasury staff.

Chief treasury officer Shailesh Kumar said the matter came to light durin...