Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrests 4 including 2 education department officials for Rs 10 lakh fraud

The accused allegedly embezzled funds amounting to Rs 10,01,120 received under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). 

The four accused were charges with misappropriation of funds of a government scheme. (Getty image used for representation)

By Lalit Sharma: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Tuesday arrested two officials of the education department and two private persons for allegedly embezzling funds amounting to Rs 10,01,120. The amount was received under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA).

A spokesperson for the bureau said a case has been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in Ludhiana.

The four arrested have been identified as Rakesh Gupta — principal of a government in-service training centre in Gurdaspur, now posted as the principal of government girls senior secondary school, Gurdaspur, Rampal — lecturer at the Gurdaspur training centre, and now posted as the principal of government senior secondary school in Pathankot, Jatinder Kumar — owner of Krishna Tent House and Mukesh Mahajan — owner of firm named Sigma decorate.

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The spokesperson said that during the investigation of the case, it was found that the in-service training centre in Gurdaspur received a grant under the RMSA. Rakesh Gupta and Rampal came together and prepared bogus bills of fake firms to usurp the funds received from the scheme.

The accused transferred the money from the scheme to their personal bank account and caused financial loss to the state by embezzling Rs 10,01,120. The amount was released to hire different types of services including chairs, tables, tents and others.

Further investigation in the case is underway, said the bureau spokesperson.

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