Overview
- The Anti-Corruption Branch said it arrested nine owners and associates of coaching centres, and a court sent them to 14 days of judicial custody.
- Investigators reported duplicate and forged student lists, use of common bank accounts instead of required dedicated ones, non-payment of stipends, and diversion of students to unapproved local tutors.
- The scheme, launched in 2018 to fund free coaching and a Rs 2,500 stipend for SC, ST, OBC and EWS students, expanded from 8 institutes to dozens and listed nearly 22,000 beneficiaries across phases.
- Those held include directors linked to Ravindra Institute, Takshila Academy, Kiran Institute and Parinam, and officials are verifying caste and income papers to confirm who actually studied under the program.
- The ACB says suspicious disbursals of about Rs 37.20 crore are under probe, while one outlet reports allegations that the total loss could be roughly Rs 145 crore, which has not been confirmed.