Unknown man booked for pocketing minority scholarship funds

The fraud allegedly led to the disbursal of ₹96,300 under the Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme during the 2021-22 academic year

MUMBAI: An unidentified man has been booked by the Nerul police for allegedly creating fake student records and fraudulently claiming Central government scholarship funds meant for minority community students. The fraud allegedly led to the disbursal of ₹96,300 under the Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme during the 2021-22 academic year.

Unknown man booked for pocketing minority scholarship funds

The FIR was registered on Thursday following a complaint filed by Vijaykumar Ashok Sonawane, education officer (planning) with the Thane Zilla Parishad, after an inquiry uncovered irregularities in scholarship applications submitted through the National Scholarship Portal.

According to police, the accused, identified only as Sameerkumar, allegedly misused the UDISE code of a school in Nerul to gain unauthorised access to the scholarship application process.

Investigators said he created a fake account on the National Scholarship Portal and falsely represented himself as the school’s Head of Institution and Institute Nodal Officer. Using those credentials, he allegedly created records of nine fictitious students and submitted scholarship applications in their names.

Scholarship benefits totalling ₹96,300 were subsequently sanctioned and released based on the alleged fake applications, police said.