On 06.10.2023, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) detained Ram Gopal, Chairman of Jivika Institute of Pharmacy and Manager of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Educational Society, Hardoi, under the provisions of the Post Matric Scholarship Act of 2002. He appeared before the Hon’ble Special Court of the PMLA in Lucknow. The Hon’ble Court awarded ED Custody for seven days.
The ED launched a probe into the scholarship scam based on intelligence and an FIR filed by the UP police.
An ED investigation revealed that managers and trustees of several colleges enrolled phoney students on their institutes for the sake of their namesake and registered for scholarships in their names on the Government portal with the sole goal of taking unfair advantage of government initiatives intended for needy students. The institutes handled all of the legalities in this regard through various agencies.
The scholarship was deposited to college accounts and then withdrawn in cash or eventually moved to personal accounts of owners/managers/trustees or family members, resulting in the misappropriation of more than 100 crores of government money.
Four people have been arrested in the case so far: Ali Abbas Jafri, Izhar Hussain Jafri, Ravi Prakash Gupta, and Vikram Nag. As a result, two Provisional Attachment orders were issued, in which immovable and movable properties worth Rs. 6.08 crore were provisionally attached in the names of the colleges’ managers and trustees, and one Prosecution Complaint against three accused persons was filed before the Special PMLA Court. More research is being conducted.
