CBI catches collars of three in Rs 220-cr Himachal Pradesh scholarship scam

Shimla, January 4: The CBI on Friday arrested an official of the Himachal Pradesh government and two people in the Rs 220-crore scholarship scam in the state. The agency has arrested the then Superintendent, Department of Higher Education of Himachal Pradesh, Arvind Rajta, Vice Chairman of KC group of Institutions Hitesh Gandhi and then Head Cashier of Central Bank of India S P Singh.

 

The CBI had registered a case on the request of the Himachal Pradesh government on May 7, 2019, against unidentified people regarding the scholarship scam in the state, the agency said in a statement.

He said it is alleged that serious irregularities took place in disbursal of pre-matric and post-matric scholarships of more than Rs 220 crore between 2013-14 and 2016-17 under state and central government sponsored schemes for students belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class.

It was further alleged that the income and caste certificates of students were not genuine.

The CBI had earlier conducted searches at the location of 21 private institutes. During investigation, role of certain accused was found.