Police File FIR Against 10 in Alleged Financial Scam at Barabanki College

Investigation Launched into College Financial Misconduct

In Barabanki district, authorities have initiated an investigation into a purported financial scam linked to Munshi Raghunandan Prasad Sardar Patel Women's College. Following a court directive, police have registered a case against ten individuals.

Sudhir Kumar Singh, the Station House Officer (SHO) of the local police station, confirmed that a case has been filed against the accused, including Umashankar Verma, Dhirendra Kumar, Manav Patel, Man Singh, Rajesh Kumar, Rajiv, Ashok, Sunil, Ajay, and Bhagwat, and an inquiry is underway.

According to police reports, Krishna Chaudhary, a founding member of the college's management committee, filed a petition in court alleging that certain officials fabricated documents to embezzle approximately ₹2.7 crore from the institution.

Krishna Chaudhary submitted her application to the Chief Judicial Magistrate's (CJM) court, claiming that Umashankar Verma and former cooperative bank chairman Dhirendra Kumar Verma conducted elections without proper procedures and declared themselves as officials of the institution without the registrar's approval.

The complainant stated that during the nationwide lockdown on April 5, 2020, a fraudulent management committee meeting was staged, resulting in 17 forged signatures. Based on this, around ₹50 lakh was transferred via RTGS to Dayaram and Sons Trading Firm without any invoices, using accounts at both a nationalized bank and a district cooperative bank.

Additionally, it is alleged that Umashankar Verma transferred ₹20 lakh to his son Manav Patel's account without the management committee's consent, taking advantage of Dhirendra Kumar Verma's position as the designated chairman of the district cooperative bank.

Krishna Chaudhary informed the police that she had previously raised concerns with the Superintendent of Police and submitted another petition on September 25, 2025, but no action was taken. Subsequently, the court ordered the filing of the case. Meanwhile, Umashankar Verma has denied any irregularities within the institution.