The Central Division cybercrime police have registered a case against nodal officers and a few students in Karnataka for allegedly cheating the Minority Welfare Department and availing themselves of ₹1.3 crore in scholarships meant for minority students through forgery.
Based on a complaint by Pradeep Simha M., 39, district officer, Minority Welfare Department, the Central CEN police charged the accused under the IT Act and also under Section 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery), and Section 471 (offense of using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the IPC for further investigation.
The Directorate of Minorities offered pre-matric, post-matric, and merit scholarship for 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. The department verified the application details to find that some nodal officers and students had forged the documents to get the scholarship.
According to the complaint, the alleged scam took place between 2021 and 2023, and 643 fake documents were uploaded on the scholarship portal impersonating the students, and ₹1.35 crore in scholarship was claimed.
The police have sought more details to track down the accused.
Published – July 15, 2025 10:32 pm IST
