The Special Investigation Team arrested one person accused of orchestrating irregularities worth Rs two crore in the SC-ST scholarship scam. The court also issued non bailable warrants against three other persons accused in the scam.
The SC ST scholarship scam is being investigated by the SIT as per the order of the High Court. As part of the investigation, a case was filed against Gaurav Kumar, the principal of the Himalayan Doon Academy under sections 420, 409, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC in Bhagwanpur police station during November 2019.
During the investigation, it was revealed that the total amount of scholarship money released by the Haridwar social welfare officer from the year 2013-14 to 2016-17 amounting to about Rs 2.54 crore was verified in the academy’s bank accounts and that of some students.
The SIT also contacted several students of the academy and learnt from them that their documents were taken from them in the name of free admission but they did not receive any education from the said institute nor did they have any knowledge of the bank accounts.
Checking the bank statements revealed that the accounts of the said students were created fraudulently and operated by the principal Gaurav Kumar and director Rajiv Bharadwaj.
On the basis of evidence, Kumar was arrested produced before the court. Further, non-bailable warrants have also been obtained from the court against Greenway Institute of Management Studies director Ashok Chauhan, a resident of Roorkee, Krishna Institute of Management and Technology director Deepak Kumar, a resident of Jwalapur and Swami Vivekanand Polytechnic, Saharanpur director Yogendra Singh Kamboj.
The warrants were secured on the basis of evidence collected during the investigation to confirm criminal acts.
It is pertinent to mention here that a number of persons including officials of private educational institutions and some government officials have been arrested so far for their alleged involvement in the multi-crore rupees scholarship scam.