Police Arrest Youth with 95 SIM Cards in Connection with Tab Grant Money Scam

KalimNews, Islampur, North Dinajpur: A youth has been arrested for his alleged role in the ongoing Tab Grant money scam that has caused a stir in several districts. Md Mobarak Hossain, a 21-year-old resident of Motivita area in Islampur, was taken into custody on Wednesday by a team from Malda’s Harishchandrapur police station. The arrest follows an investigation into the suspicious transfer of state grants meant for students to purchase tablets for digital learning.

The Mamata Banerjee government offers a one-time grant of ₹10,000 to higher secondary students in state-run and state-aided schools. However, it was recently discovered that 35 students from the Konua Bhavani Pur High School in Harishchandrapur did not receive their allocated funds. Upon further investigation, it was revealed that the grant money meant for these students had been diverted to other bank accounts.

The situation came to light when students and their guardians confronted the school’s headmaster, Raja Choudhury. He, in turn, attempted to shift the blame onto the school clerk. This prompted the police to take action, eventually leading them to Hossain, who was found to be part of a larger racket.

According to police sources, Hossain and his associates had hacked into the state education department's website and altered the bank account numbers to divert the funds. During his arrest, Hossain was found in possession of incriminating materials, including 95 SIM cards, 65 ATM cards, two cellphones, pen drives, and a laptop.

Earlier investigations into the scam had led to the identification of several suspicious bank account transactions, and more arrests were made in connection with the diversion of funds. Police Superintendent Pradeep Kumar Yadav confirmed that five cases have been filed concerning the misappropriation of Tab grant money. Investigations are still ongoing to determine the full extent of the scam, including tracing the accounts involved and identifying the IP addresses used to access the education portal.

Authorities have already frozen over 250 bank accounts in connection with the scam. The Darjeeling district police have been actively involved in the investigation, with multiple arrests made in Vaishnavnagar, Dinhata, and North Dinajpur.

Hossain was presented before the Chanchal Sub-Divisional Court, where a judge granted a 10-day police remand for further questioning. Police are now focusing on interrogating the accused to uncover the identities of others involved in the operation.

The investigation is ongoing, and authorities have assured that further developments will be shared as they continue to probe into the widespread fraud that affected many deserving students across the region.