Now, ED demands details of Punjabi University's UGC scholarship funds 'scam'

Tribune News Service

Patiala, August 14

Investigation into Punjabi University's alleged multi-crore University Grants Commission (UGC) scholarship funds scam, which started with a few fake bills last year, has led to the identification of more than 800 bills and misappropriation of funds worth over Rs 14 crore. While the Punjab police are also investigating the matter, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now demanded some documents related to the university's finances and the scam.

The university in May-June 2021 had identified fake scholarship bills, forged signatures and misappropriation of the UGC scholarship funds after which it launched a probe and suspended a number of employees. Later, the university handed over the probe to the Punjab police, which nabbed a number of suspects and started a parallel probe.

A year down the line, the matter will now be probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The university authorities had approached the ED office in this regard.

Officials of the university said the probe had started with the identification of seven fake bills generated in the names of outsiders and former students. "It has already escalated to the identification of over 800 such fake bills. We have assessed misappropriation of over Rs 14 crore in many years. These bills were generated with the passage of time and money was deposited into the bank accounts. Most of the people related to it are outsiders," an official said.

The university has probed its finances from 2011 in relation to the matter. They have named more than 107 individuals in the FIR and more names could be added, they said.

The officials said, "The university had decided to approach a Centre-level agency to probe the matter. Therefore, we approached the ED office. In response, the office has demanded details from us. We will be providing them with the details of funds misused by the accused and other related documents," the University public relations office said.

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#punjab police #Punjabi University Patiala #University Grant Commission UGC