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Economic Offences Wing arrests school manager in ₹1 crore scholarship scam
The arrest was made as part of a statewide crackdown launched on the directions of the state government.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Kanpur Sector, has arrested a school manager for allegedly embezzling nearly ₹1 crore in scholarship funds meant for students in Etawah district during the 2008–09 academic session. The arrest was made as part of a statewide crackdown launched on the directions of the state government.
The accused, identified as Lal Singh, a resident of Gyan Deep Campus on Basrehar Road in Etawah, was apprehended by an Economic Offences Wing (EOW) team from the Kanpur Sector during a raid in Friends Colony, Etawah, on Monday evening.
According to the EOW, Lal Singh allegedly forged requisition documents while serving as the manager of Sant BDS Public School near Manikpur Turn in Etawah and fraudulently claimed scholarship funds in the names of students purportedly enrolled in a non-existent educational institution. The scholarship amount was then allegedly siphoned off.
The EOW conducted the investigation following directions from the Uttar Pradesh government in connection with a case registered at Civil Lines police station in Etawah under various sections of the Indian Penal Code related to cheating, forgery, use of forged documents, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence, along with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Officials said the case is part of a larger scholarship scam in which managers and principals of 27 non-existent schools allegedly inflated the enrolment of Scheduled Caste, Other Backward Class, minority and general category students studying in Classes I to V during the 2008-09 academic session. They are accused of fraudulently withdrawing scholarship funds sanctioned in the names of fictitious beneficiaries and embezzling the money. The EOW said further legal action is underway as the investigation into the wider scholarship scam continues.
