Another Punjabi varsity employee held

PATIALA: Two days after arresting four people, including the main accused, in the fake billing racket at Patiala University, police made two more arrests on Wednesday. One of them is a university employee while the other is a female relative of the main accused, Nishu Chaudhary.

The employee has been identified as Bhupinder Singh, a technical assistant whose name cropped up during investigation. Chaudhary, had deposited ₹4 lakh in Singh’s bank account, said deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Sourav Jindal. Chaudhary’s relative, whose name has been withheld, was also arrested from the university campus.

Jindal said Chaudhary has also confessed to his role in the racket.

Posted as a senior assistant, he was siphoning off university funds in the name of fake research scholars since 2016. His wrongdoings went unchecked for all these years before he was caught submitting fake bills with the accounts departments in May this year.

The other three men arrested along with Chaudhary on Monday are Jatinder Singh, Ashu Kumar and Sonu Kumar. While Sonu is Chaudhary’s driver, the other two used to pose as research scholars.

The DSP said investigations have not pointed to the involvement of any senior functionary of the university so far. “The exact amount of funds that were siphoned off will be disclosed once the investigation is over,” he said.

According to the preliminary inquiry, Chaudhary and his aides pocketed up to ₹40 lakh. A police official privy to the investigation said Chaudhary has illegal moveable and immovable property in Himachal Pradesh and Patiala.

“Police are also gathering records of all his properties so that they could be seized after completing legal formalities,” said the official.

In May this year, the cashstrapped university’s internal audit department and finance wing had red-flagged five bills amounting to ₹6 lakh.