Meerut, June 24 -- Meerut police arrested a 45-year-old man for fraudulently withdrawing the pension of his dead mother, a dependent widow of a freedom fighter, for nearly seven years by using forged life certificates.

Police on Wednesday said the accused allegedly siphoned off more than Rs.44 lakh in pension funds after his mother's death in 2018.

The accused, identified as Prem Singh, son of Sukkhan Singh and a resident of Shahpur Jadid village in Meerut, was arrested on Tuesday following an investigation into the alleged pension fraud.

According to the police, Singh continued to receive both freedom fighter and defence pensions (Sukkhan Singh was a member of the Azad Hind Fauj) in the name of his mother, Shanti Devi, long after her ...