Updated: December 18, 2020 8:25:13 am
In its report, the Dhanbad administration referred to the role of various intermediaries, school owners, a lawyer and district officials involved in the verification of applicants: 11 FIRs have been registered in the district. (Representative image)
TRACKING IP addresses, the CBI team that is investigating pre-matric scholarship scam in Bihar, based on the findings of an investigation by The Indian Express, it has targeted the locations from where the online forms of “various false beneficiaries” were completed; all are in Chatra of Jharkhand, a district that has already passed Local Police.
“After conducting an initial investigation, we found beneficiaries in Sasaram and Gaya (Bihar) districts. Via IP addresses, we track the locations from where the forms were completed to Chatra. Some people have been questioned and some Aadhaar cards have been found in their possession, “CBI sources told The Indian Express.
“When questioned, several Chatra residents said they knew who had filled out the forms. They pointed to several homes in Line Mohalla. Some suspects have yet to be located. We are investigating the supplies, ”said the sources.
The mohalla has already been analyzed by district authorities in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad, who said in an investigative report that the suspected mastermind of the scam in the state, identified as Mohammad Sadiq, and his associates were based in Chatra.
Dhanbad was one of six districts in Jharkhand where The Indian Express discovered that a nexus of intermediaries, officials, and school personnel colluded to steal school IDs and passwords to access the National Scholarship Portal (NSP), mislead parents and students credulous and set up bogus beneficiaries.
The Indian Express also discovered that the scam spread from Jharkhand to Bihar and also involved schools in Punjab and Assam. Taking note of these findings, the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, which administers this grant, sought a CBI investigation last month.
The agency began its investigation based on a police-registered FIR in Gaya, where The Indian Express found 134 bogus recipients of the Manu Indian Public School in the Banke Bazar area after investigating entries in the NSP and linking them to bank accounts in the Public Finance Management System. (PFMS).
CBI sources said the agency will send an initial report to the Ministry of Minority Affairs, after which it will be able to register an FIR.
In Jharkhand, the Anti-Corruption Office launched a preliminary investigation into the scam on Wednesday. “A team led by a rank DySP officer will investigate. The officer will present the initial findings in 15 days, which will be delivered to the Cabinet Surveillance Department, ”said an official.
In its report, the Dhanbad administration referred to the role of various intermediaries, school owners, an attorney, and district officials involved in verification of applicants: 11 FIRs have been registered in the district.
The scholarship scheme, launched in 2008, is intended to help students from minority communities from families with annual incomes of less than Rs 1 lakh. Eligible students in classes 1 to 5 receive Rs 1,000 per year, and students in classes 6 to 10 receive Rs 5,700 per year if they are day academics or Rs 10,700 if they are in a hostel.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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