As part of a probe into an alleged scam in disbursing scholarships to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes students, the Lokayukta police carried out simultaneous searches in Bangarpet, KGF, Mysore and Bangalore. According to an FIR registered by the anti-corruption police on March 30, the accused in the case created false documents showing that hundreds of SCs/STs students had been admitted to courses run jointly by an open university and the Sharada Vikas Trust. The misappropriation, according to the Lokayukta, runs into Rs. 68 lakh.
In a release here on Tuesday, Lokayukta ADGP H.N.S. Rao said that K.B. Anand, Taluk Welfare Officer of Bangarpet, Murali, principal of Active Computer Education Society, and Mohan, principal of Glorious Institute of Management and the Sharada Vikas Trust, were involved in the scam. Mr. Rao said that Anand was found to be in possession of disproportionate assets worth Rs. 46.82 lakh.
Raids
Kolar Staff Correspondent reports:
The Lokayukta police on Tuesday raided the residence of Anand at Mysore and a room in Bangarpet and offices of three institutions at Bangarpet, Kolar Gold Fields and Bangalore in connection with alleged misappropriation of funds.
Active Computer Training Institute, Bangarpet, Glorious Institute, KGF, and Sharada Vikas Trust, Bangalore, are the three institutions where the Lokayukta carried out simultaneous raids.
While Anand owns a house in Mysore, he was residing in a hired room at Bangarpet.
The Lokayukta officials seized Rs. 5 lakh in cash and documents related to four sites from the Mysore residence of Anand, Kolar district Lokayukta Superintendent of Police A.B. Sudhakar said.
Documents and other correspondence were recovered from the offices of Sharada Vikas Trust, Active Computer Training Institute, and Glorious Institute, he added.
Complaint
According to a complaint filed with the Lokayukta Special Court by activist Ranganath, Rs. 1.25 crore has been misappropriated by officials of the Social Welfare Department and the private institutions. Study centres of the open university were started at Bangarpet and KGF and proposals were submitted to the department on scholarships and reimbursement of fees in benami accounts of SCs and STs students.
