The founder of FIITJEE and 11 other people were booked on a complaint by parents of the coaching institute's students after several of its centres in Delhi-NCR abruptly shut down, the Noida Police said on Saturday.
FIITJEE founder DK Goyal, Chief Financial Officer Rajiv Babbar, Chief Operating Officer Manish Anand and its Greater Noida branch head Ramesh Batlesh have been named in the FIR, a Noida Police spokesperson said.
In Delhi, the police launched a probe after more than 250 people accused FIITJEE's East Delhi centre of fraudulent practices and mismanagement following the coaching institute's abrupt shutdown, sources said.
The institute, however, claimed the shutdown was the result of "mismanagement and desertion" by managing partners, and announced plans to pursue legal action against its competitors for alleged poaching of its faculty.
On Friday, students and parents said several FIITJEE centres had unexpectedly shut down across Delhi-NCR and many teachers resigned, allegedly due to non-payment of salaries for months.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Rambadan Singh said, "Based on the complaint of parents, a case has been registered on charges of criminal conspiracy and breach of trust."<According to FIITJEE's website, it runs 73 centres across the country, providing coaching for competitive exams to engineering aspirants.
Citing the complaint of Satsang Kumar, a resident of Greater Noida, the Noida Police spokesperson said the institute's centre at Sector-62 was open till January 21 but closed an hour before schedule. Later, it was found that the centre had been completely shut. He claimed that more than 2,000 students studied at the centre.
Similar allegations have been made by Manoj Kumar, a resident of Sector Omega-2 of Greater Noida. In Delhi, people carrying reports of FIITJEE centres closing nationwide, visited the East Delhi centre at Lakshmi Nagar to seek clarity on the closures of branches, sudden faculty resignations, and alleged non-payment of staff salaries.
The parents of children enrolled with FIITJEE claimed it collected substantial fees but failed to fulfil its commitment. A social media group formed by those affected has already garnered 257 members, many of whom are demanding urgent action.