E-Paper
U.P. scholarship scam: ED attaches properties worth ₹2.84 crore
The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached properties worth ₹2.84 crore in a scholarship scam in Lucknow. The scam was allegedly masterminded by two brothers who owned Hygia Group of Colleges. The ED had earlier arrested the owners and a close aide in connection with the fraud. An international para-cricketer was also arrested for his involvement in the fraud.
The Enforcement Directorate, Lucknow Zonal office, has provisionally attached properties worth ₹2.84 crore under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in the scholarship scam, said senior ED officials, here, on Friday.
The officials said the attached properties are in the form of plots, flats and bank balance.
They said that earlier, the ED had attached immovable and movable properties worth ₹ 3.24 crore in the name of managers and trustees of the colleges involved in the scam.
They further stated the scam was allegedly masterminded by two brothers, who owned Hygia Group of Colleges in Lucknow.
They said that the ED had earlier arrested the owners of Hygia Group of Colleges namely Izhar Hussain Jafri and Ali Abbas Jafri, as well their close aide Ravi Prakash Gupta, on April 26, in this connection. The ED had conducted raids on February 16 on 10 educational institutions across several districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow.
Besides, an international para-cricketer Vikram Nag, who is a pass-out from Hygia institute, was arrested from his house in Lakhimpur Kheri on August 24 for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore scholarship fraud. He was involved in the fraud by providing documents and details of over hundreds of physically challenged students which were misused to get scholarships from the government in their names, an ED official said.
He said Nag used to bring physically handicapped persons to Hygia institute of Management and Technology and other institutes from the various parts of Uttar Pradesh. He said the investigation revealed that Nag was engaged in the business of mobile phone repair and used to teach differently abled people how to repair cell phones. “From there, he got access to their Aadhaar and other credentials, which were ultimately misused in conspiracy with the owners of Hygia institute of Management and Technology and other institutes to fraudulently claim scholarships,” the ED official explained.
The official further added that these institutes fraudulently reflected admission of these physically handicapped persons in their respective institutes and misappropriated scholarship funds provided by the government. He said the scholarship of around ₹ 1.5 lakh per annum to each physically handicapped student was paid into their bank accounts. Nag provided the documents of about 500 such non-genuine admissions to the institutes, the official added.
