Pune (PTI): A case has been registered against several persons for allegedly obtaining Rs 1.2 lakh under the Centre's Merit-cum-Means scholarship scheme for minority students by using fake documents and identities of educational institutions, a Pune police official said on Saturday.

The alleged fraud took place during the academic years 2021-22 and 2022-23, he added.

The accused created fake user IDs on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) using the names of a private Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Kalamb in Indapur taluka here and a government ITI in Karad in Satara district, he said, quoting the complaint.

"They allegedly posed as the heads of the institutions and institute nodal officers and submitted four scholarship applications in the names of fictitious students. An amount of Rs 30,000 was credited for each student to different bank accounts, taking the total amount to Rs 1.2 lakh," the official said.

A case has been registered at Chaturshringi police station under sections 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, he added.

This report was published from a wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.