Sonepur, March 18: Uttam Mahala, who was arrested for duping about 150 youths to the tune of Rs 11 lakh by promising them to help pass the Plus Two examination has been found entangled in yet another case. He has allegedly cheated at least 10 Class X students by promising to help them appear for the ongoing High School Certificate examinations.
At least 10 Class X students of the Dayanand Saraswati High School here were shocked to find that they wouldn’t be able to appear the HSC examination as they were not provided with their admit cards even a day before the start of the examination. The police produced the accused at a local court today.
It is alleged that Mahala had opened a school in the town a couple of years ago where 82 students study from Class IV to Class X.
Mahala is the managing director of the school. The school has no affiliation with the proper authorities and boards. Mahala had reportedly collected Rs 2,600 from each student towards admission and examination fees.
However, as the school didn’t have permission of the director of the higher education, the students were not given admit cards to sit for the examination.
The police today sent the accused to court and later remanded him in judicial custody after his bail was rejected in the court of the SDJM.
IIC of Sonepur police station, Dhiraj Chopdar, said that police sent the accused to Sonepur jail as his bail plea was rejected. “Investigations are at the preliminary stages. The original HSC certificates and marksheets of the students have not been recovered. The other accused, Debanand Sahu, president of the Maa Maheswari College of Balaranga, is yet to be traced.
Mahala was arrested on Wednesday when some students spotted him at a market and handed him over to the police. Along with Debanand Sahu, he had allegedly cheated nearly 150 students by promising them to arrange for colleges so that they could appear for the Plus Two examinations.
Though the two had collected the money, the students realised on the day of the examination that they had been duped. Mahala had managed to escape, but was later caught by the students.
