EWS scam in schools: In chargesheet, police may name principals, fathers of students

Investigators are currently recording the statements of all the parents allegedly involved in the scam.

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Police have arrested several accused over the scam, including alleged kingpin Punita. The accused used to charge a hefty amount — between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10 lakh — for each admission, said police sources.

Sources in the Crime Branch told The Indian Express that during questioning, the parents had claimed that they were not aware of the modus-operandi of the accused, who helped them secure admissions for their children.

“The parents were not aware about the fraud part of the admission and now we are mentioning their names in column No.12 (a column of the accused against whom trial cannot proceed),” police sources said. The investigators have not found any concrete evidence against the parents yet, they added.

The investigators are also likely to add the names of principals of several private schools in column no. 12 in the chargesheet.

Principals as well as staff of the private schools, where the accused had helped students secure admission, claimed they had no idea about the scam, said sources.

The Crime Branch is also planning to recommend action against them for allegedly ignoring guidelines and being irresponsible towards the admission process.

“As per the guidelines of the Directorate of Education, the principal and the school admission committee staff had been directed to scrutinise the documents and their content properly and minutely, but they did not discharge their legal and obligatory duty,” police sources said.

During investigation, the Crime Branch sleuths had come across several irregularities which were ignored by the admissions committee of these schools, including some badly-made forged EWS certificates and residential certificates, said sources.

“In one such EWS certificate, they had put a blurred photo and also mentioned that they lived within one km of the school, which seemed improbable. But all this was overlooked by the admission commission,” said police sources.

Police suspect that some members of the admission commission may have signed forged documents to help the accused, claim sources.