FIITJEE chief among 10 booked, 2 FIRs lodged

Police in Uttar Pradesh filed two first information reports (FIRs) against FIITJEE over the abrupt closure of the coaching institute's centres in Noida and Ghaziabad that has left hundreds of students in the lurch ahead of board and college entrance examinations.

- Sanjay Maurya and Arun Singh

NEW DELHI/NOIDA:

In Noida, police registered a case of criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust against FIITJEE founder Dinesh Kumar Goyal and nine others. The Noida centre shut shop on Wednesday, becoming the latest of at least eight FIITJEE institutes to close across the country.

The sudden downturn has affected at least 3,500 students, who were relying on the institute that made a name for itself training young teenagers to ace competitive engineering and medical examinations.

"On Thursday, nearly 150 parents approached the Sector 58 police station and filed a complaint that the FIITJEE Noida centre closed without any notification. On their complaint, a case under sections 336 (forgery), 316 (criminal breach of trust), 318(4) (cheating), and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and 397 of the Company Act was registered at the Sector 58 police station against nine people, including the owner, management, and director," said Noida deputy commissioner of police Ram Badan Singh.

Police said the centre's 40-member staff, including teachers and pantry workers, resigned on Wednesday and joined a rival coaching institute.

"It was informed that FIITJEE Noida did not pay salary to the staff for the past two months. As they got increments, they all left in a day. Strict action will be taken against the teachers also," said sector 58 station house officer Amit Kumar.