Owner of 42 schools on the run

Cinema and TV actor Khanna was the brand ambassador of Sharma’s chain of schools called ‘Dolphin International’ and attended many functions in these schools. Gufi Paintal too visited the state on many occasion in connection with celebrations in these schools and film-making events organised by Sharma.

Police teams which were sent to Mumbai recently have recorded statements of Khanna and Paintal after Sharma and his family went underground and agitated parents lodged complaints with the police,demanding action against both the cine artistes for “promoting a dubious group”.

“At Gariaband,parents have named both the artistes in their complaints lodged with the police. The police teams which recorded the statements of Khanna and Paintal in Mumbai are yet to return,” ASP I H Khan told The Indian Express. “Investigations are still progressing. Rajesh Sharma is untraceable. We have to examine the statements of Khanna and Paintal before saying anything about their role.”

Sharma,said to be a resident of Delhi,started his career as a school teacher in Hyderabad and later came to Raipur in 2003 to join a private school. In 2005,he started his ‘Dolphin International’.

Sharma lured parents through a scheme under which each student would have to make a one-time deposit ranging from Rs 35,000 to Rs 1.50 lakh at the time of admission. He promised to not charge any fees during 12 years of schooling and to periodically refund the deposit through post-dated cheques. It is alleged that he collected more than Rs 50 crore from parents. Sharma’s 42 schools enrolled about 15,000 students.

Everything was going smoothly for Sharma till teachers in his school at Rajim near Raipur refused to hold annual examination last month saying that they were not paid salaries for the past few months. As parents protested against the school not conducting annual examination,the word spread. Sharma and his family members went underground,the newspaper stopped publication and the cable news channel went off the air.

As the fate of nearly 15,000 students was hanging in balance,School Education Minister Brijmohan Agrawal said the state was trying to restart the schools by June 15 by setting up a committee.