Himachal student allegedly duped with fake claim of Rs 3.5 cr defence grant

Hamirpur (HP), Oct 29 (PTI) A fifth-semester engineering student in Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur district was allegedly duped into believing that a Rs 3.5 crore grant had been sanctioned for his defence innovation project, with police registering a case of cheating, impersonation and forgery, officials said on Thursday.

     The case was registered on a complaint by the principal of Government Polytechnic Hamirpur after the student was allegedly led to believe that funding had been approved under the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative of the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), police said.

     The project was titled “Rudra Edge T-1 (Spectra)”, according to a police statement.

     On Wednesday, the DIO clarified in an official communication that, as per its records, no such grant had been sanctioned or facilitated either to the student or to any start-up associated with him, the statement said.

     In his complaint, the principal said the student appeared to have been the victim of a serious and well-orchestrated online fraud.

     The student, identified as Sarvesh Kumar, had attracted public attention after reports of his purported achievement emerged. He fell from his hostel room on Wednesday and was taken to Hamirpur hospital before being shifted to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh, where his condition was stable, according to the information provided by police.

     A case has been registered under sections 318(2), 319 and 336(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which deal with identity theft and cheating by personation using computer resources, police said.

     Investigators are examining relevant documents, electronic correspondence and devices to establish the sequence of events and identify those responsible, Hamirpur Superintendent of Police Balbir Singh said.

     Police advised citizens, students, innovators and educational institutions to independently verify communications claiming grant approvals, selection under government schemes or financial assistance through the official websites and designated offices of the organisations concerned, particularly those associated with defence, research and innovation.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)