Madrasa found running on forged documents in UP's Kushinagar, FIR registered

Kushinagar (UP), Aug 21 (PTI) Authorities in Kushinagar have found that a madrasa was being run for years on forged documents and even drew government funds despite having no land of its own, officials said on Thursday.

The institution, Anjuman Islamia Faizul Uloom Dhanouji Khurd Fazilnagar, was granted aid in 1996 but was operating on encroached gram sabha land, according to an inquiry ordered by the district magistrate.

"During the probe, it was revealed that the madrasa management was presenting fabricated documents and misusing government funds for years," said Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Vaibhav Mishra, who headed the investigation.

The inquiry was initiated following a complaint by state OBC Commission member Phoolbadan Kushwaha. On Mishra's directions, an FIR was registered at Kasya police station against madrasa manager Seraj Ahmed and Rahul Kumar Chaturvedi, the then reader (peshkar) in the SDM court.

Officials said the matter came to light when, a day after SDM Ratnika Srivastava was relieved from duty on July 24, 2023, her then reader Chaturvedi allegedly issued a backdated forged order and uploaded it on the government portal.

"This is how the fraud was caught," the inquiry officer noted.

ADM Mishra said the investigation, conducted in coordination with the Board of Revenue, revealed manipulation of case records and fake digital orders.

"The order sheet carried no URL, page numbers or date-time details as is mandatory in portal-generated documents. Even the court name, case number and sections were forged," he said.

It was also found that hearing dates were backdated, and fake signatures of the presiding officer were used on order sheets.

"The entire episode exposed collusion between the beneficiaries and local revenue staff," Mishra added.

Following the report, District Magistrate Mahendra Singh Tanwar directed that the case records be corrected and that Chaturvedi be suspended.

Both he and Ahmed were booked at Kasya police station on August 20, officials said. PTI COR KIS AMJ AMJ