Day after arrest, police say she got admission for 60 students under EWS
Initially, Punita allegedly used to charge Rs 2 lakh, but only got Rs 50,000 as her share. The rest allegedly was pocketed by a DoE official.
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Punita is under probe for allegedly running a school admission racket in the national capital, securing admission for children under the EWS.She is a political science graduate from Delhi University. She used to run a boutique in Rohini’s Sector 18. Unhappy with what she earned, she began a cab service to ferry schoolchildren in Rohini.
Today, Punita is under probe for allegedly running a school admission racket in the national capital, securing admission for children under the EWS (Economically Weaker Section) category in private schools in exchange for money. Punita (39) was arrested after she surrendered before a Delhi court.
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“She had secured admissions for around 60 students in the last five years and, in some cases, parents were never informed that their child was being admitted under the EWS quota. Apart from preparing forged EWS certificates, she would also prepare forged residential certificates for the parents, showing that they lived within 250 metres of the school in question. If any parent came to know later that his or her child had been granted admission under the EWS quota, they were assured that their section would be changed after around six months after giving an application along with their genuine income certificate,” the officer said.
“She used to run a boutique adjacent to her home. Her husband was in the real estate business. This was in 2010. Keen to start a new business, she got in touch with several school teachers who taught at private coaching centres. These people helped her set up her cab service,” a senior crime branch officer told The Indian Express.
According to police, in 2012, Punita was approached by her sister, who wanted to admit her child under the EWS quota. Punita, who was in touch with several teachers and a former official of the Directorate of Education (DoE), turned to them for help.
“They reportedly told her that for admission under the EWS quota, she needed to have an EWS certificate. They allegedly advised her to get some documents from the sub-divisional magistrate’s office in Kanjhawala with the help of touts. She allegedly got the EWS certificate after paying Rs 2,000 to a tout,” the officer claimed.
While securing admission for her nephew, Punita realised that the school authorities were allegedly not checking the documents properly. “She realised she could manipulate the system. In the meantime, her husband, Prince, who was facing huge losses in his real estate business, too joined her and they allegedly started the racket with the help of retired DoE official,” the officer said.
Initially, Punita allegedly used to charge Rs 2 lakh, but only got Rs 50,000 as her share. The rest allegedly was pocketed by the DoE official. She later hired a man, identified as Dharam Singh, who allegedly used to prepare forged documents for her, police said. After around two years, she started running her own racket.
Police sources said in the last three years, kingpins of other EWS admission rackets such as Mukesh Sharma and others too came in contact with Punita.
Police conduct raids
A day after arresting Punita, who was allegedly running an admission racket under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota, Delhi Police’s Crime Branch on Saturday conducted raids in several private schools as well as on the house of a retired official of the Directorate of Education (DoE). More raids are likely in the coming days.
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