The Crime Investigation Department of Telangana police on Tuesday said its probe has revealed over Rs 73 lakh were illegally claimed from Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF) in the name of fake patients.

The sleuths scrutinized 11,600 applications to the CMRF, and found that 20 brokers (middlemen) created 112 fake bills from Telangana and other states in the name of non-existing patients, the police said.

The CID arrested five "brokers" in the case three days ago, a police release said. Earlier they had arrested 10 "brokers".

They had created fake letter-heads of hospitals, collected case sheets of genuine patients with the help of some hospital staff members, and submitted fraudulent applications to CMRF in the name of fake patients seeking help for treatment, they said, 

In this manner, Rs 73,68,572 were claimed in the name of 112 non-existing patients.