Lucknow, Aug 19 - A scam in the withdrawal of old age pension that was unearthed last week in Uttar Pradesh has opened a pandora's box, with the fraud expected to touch Rs.120 million as investigations dig deeper.

A fraud of Rs.9.1 million in an old age pension fund scheme of the central government was first detected in Sitapur district Aug 14, but the figure has already touched Rs.18 million within a week.

'So far, a bungling of Rs.1.8 crore has been detected and it is expected to touch Rs.12 crore (Rs.120 million) or even higher as the probe progresses,' said Sitapur District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that the roots of the scam run much deeper. Around 55,000 people in the age group of 25-40 years in six districts are suspected to be involved in the fraud, according to sources in the Social Welfare Department office in Lucknow.

'Besides ordering a probe in the entire state, specific orders have been issued for Jhansi, Firozabad, Agra, Allahabad, Mathura. It has been found that the list of beneficiaries in these districts and many others has not been updated since 2002,' a senior official told IANS on condition of anonymity.

The scam in Sitapur, 80 km from here, came to light after an exercise by officials of the Social Welfare Department (SWD) following complaints from villagers.