DEHRADUN — India’s financial crime agency has intensified its investigation into an alleged multi-crore scholarship scam in Uttarakhand, issuing a notice this week to a prominent Dehradun-based private university as part of a broader probe into potential money laundering and fund diversion affecting some of the state’s most vulnerable students.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), through its Dehradun office, has called upon the chairman and managing director of DIT University to submit detailed documentation on the institution’s affiliations, scholarship receipts, and internal financial processes within ten days, officials confirmed. The action follows months of scrutiny into scholarship funds earmarked for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students — assistance which investigators now believe was siphoned off through fake identities and improperly routed through select private institutions.
“This is routine work. We will provide whatever information is requested,” said Anuj Agarwal, the chairman of DIT University, confirming receipt of the notice. “We are ready for the investigation.”
A Scam Years in the Making
According to preliminary findings cited by investigators, the suspected fraud is believed to have occurred between 2010 and 2017, when scholarships issued by the state’s Social Welfare Department were allegedly withdrawn using fabricated student identities. Officials say the scale of misuse ran into crores of rupees, and that several educational institutions were placed under suspicion as discrepancies surfaced in audits and beneficiary lists.
The ED’s involvement began after the agency registered an enforcement case based on an FIR lodged at the SIDCUL police station in Haridwar. That earlier complaint pointed to systemic manipulation of scholarship disbursements, with funds intended for SC/ST students reportedly redirected or unaccounted for in official records.
Investigators say the agency has already attached assets belonging to multiple Uttarakhand-based institutions in previous rounds of enforcement action tied to the same scheme.
Financial Trails and Regulatory Red Flags
The ED’s notice to DIT University has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, which allows the agency to investigate financial irregularities connected to criminal activity, including fraud and misuse of government welfare schemes. Under the notice, the university must furnish records related to scholarship beneficiaries, fund transfers, and supporting documentation proving student eligibility.
A 2020 inquiry conducted by a government-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) had earlier stated it found no irregularities in the university’s records. University representatives reiterated this point, noting that “all documents were submitted” during the SIT inquiry and that the panel “did not find any irregularity or non-compliance.”
ED officials, however, maintain that the money laundering investigation is broader in scope and may reveal links between forged scholarship withdrawals and potential layering of funds through different institutions.
Growing Pressure on Private Educational Institutions
As the inquiry deepens, the agency’s requests have placed renewed pressure on Uttarakhand’s private education sector — particularly institutions that had received significant scholarship allocations during the seven-year period now under scrutiny. The ED has emphasized that similar notices may be issued to multiple universities and colleges as investigators attempt to verify beneficiary data and reconcile inconsistencies in scholarship disbursement records.
For now, DIT University has committed to cooperation, asserting that it will “duly furnish all documents and information requested by the department within the prescribed timelines.” Investigators say compliance from institutions will be crucial in determining how a scheme intended to support marginalized students evolved into a years-long network of fraudulent withdrawals, and whether institutional complicity or administrative lapses played a role in enabling the alleged scam.
As the investigation unfolds, the ED is expected to expand its review of financial transactions from the period in question, a move that could trigger further scrutiny across the state’s educational landscape and potentially lead to new enforcement actions in the months ahead.
