A major scholarship scam had been uncovered in Indore of Madhya Pradesh concerning scholarships allocated to Muslim students. 27 madrasas and schools are suspected of involvement in the at least Rs 57 lakh scam and an FIR (First Information Report) has been filed against 5 individuals identified as Mohammad Rafiq Khan, Shabnam Shah, Shahnaz Khanam, Aftab Khan and Aftab.
The Crime Branch’s investigation has disclosed that the operators of these madrasas and schools were fraudulently obtaining scholarships amounting to lakhs of rupees by falsely representing dilapidated and vacant land as educational institutions.
According to Nai Dunia report, the Crime Branch has initiated a search for the perpetrators responsible for the fraud and a report regarding the case has been forwarded to the government.
The report cited DCP (Crime) Rajesh Kumar Tripathi who stated that during the police operation at the hideout of the suspect Aftab Khan, he managed to escape by turning off his mobile phone. He owned a school in Sabzi Mandi Khajrana called St. Xavier’s Convent and had received a scholarship exceeding Rs 7 lakhs. However, the team found nothing at the location upon their arrival to probe the school.
After a complaint, Inspector Madhav Singh Bhadoria conducted an inquiry and submitted a case against the director of Care Well School Mohammad Rafiq Khan, the director of Madrasa Safia named Shabnam Shah, the director of Madrasa Usmania named Shahnaz Khanam, the director of St. Xavier’s Convent named Aftab Khan and the director of JR DRD Memorial School, also named Aftab.
Madhav Singh Bhadoria stated that fake students were first registered on the portal for the 9th and 10th grades and subsequently, the alleged institutions further took forward the bogus registration of the latter through their own login access. A total of 27 such institutions have been marked as suspicious in this investigation. The fraud is being examined, and measures will be implemented against these institutions if they are determined to be guilty.
Notably, the authorities had registered a case on 17th June, following a complaint from Anil Kumar Soni, Assistant Director of the Backward Classes and Minority Welfare Department and have been actively investigating the matter.
