Lucknow: The case of drawing of salaries totalling over Rs 1 crore in the name of Anamika Shukla in Uttar Pradesh is taking interesting turns with each passing day, with the police identifying two more accused women and arresting one of them.
In a positive twist to the whole scam, the ‘real’ Anamika Shukla, who has been jobless so far, has got a job offer from a private school in Gonda district after its management came to know about her.
During investigations in the case, authorities had identified two more women in the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) as masquerading Anamika Shukla and drawing salaries in her name.
While one was arrested by Ambedkar Nagar police from her hometown in Bewar area in Mainpuri district, the other woman hailing from Kanpur Dehat is being traced.
Arrested woman Anita Singh, a widow from Lakhanpur Jaatmai village in Bewar police jurisdiction, told local reporters that an “area resident Pushpendra Singh Jatav had arranged the job for her without charging any money and that she was getting Rs 10,000 every month from him out of her salary of Rs 22,000”.
She said: “I did not have money to even manage food for my child and my family at that time and hence accepted Pushpendra’s offer.”
She said she was a postgraduate from Etawah and had returned to her hometown after relaxations in the lockdown. Police is now looking for Pushpendra.
Ambedkar Nagar Superintendent of Police Alok Priyadarshi said that Anita was arrested in connection with an FIR lodged by the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA). He said according to the FIR, ‘Anamika Shukla’ was appointed ad-hoc science teacher at the Kasturba Gandhi residential girls’ school in Alapur on March 2, 2019.
Meanwhile, another ‘Anamika Shukla’ identified by Aligarh police was found working in the Kasturba Vidyalaya in Atrauli from October 21, 2019. She had withdrawn a salary of Rs 95,350 till date.
Aligarh BSA Laxmikant Pandey said that accountant Harish Chandra’s contract had been cancelled after approval from the District Magistrate as he was involved in releasing salary to her without verifying her credentials.
The officer said he had also written to the State Project Director for action against District Coordinator Gajendra Singh Yadav, who works here on deputation and is responsible for checking documents of the newly appointed candidates.
Pandey said that the accused woman had resigned on WhatsApp on May 25 when the department summoned her for verifying her documents. She had also sent her resignation through registered post. “The salary recovery process will be initiated soon,” the BSA said.
Aligarh SSP Muniraj G said that a team has been constituted to trace the second woman and she will be arrested soon.
As many as 25 ‘Anamika Shuklas’ were fraudulently withdrawing salaries from KGVB on the basis of documents of the real Anamika Shukla who hails from Gonda and who did not get the job even after applying at various places.
On June 6, police had arrested a woman for working as a teacher in the name of Anamika Shukla in 25 schools for months and withdrawing over Rs one crore in salaries for more than a year till February last.
Though this woman had sent her resignation letter to the Kasganj Basic Education Officer through a friend who was detained at the office, she was caught and handed over to Soro police for questioning. She was a native of Mainpuri and working as a full-time science teacher at Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya in Faridpur in Kasganj and also simultaneously at many schools in Ambedkar Nagar, Baghpat, Aligarh, Saharanpur and Prayagraj districts etc, authorities had claimed.
On Tuesday last, the ‘real’ Anamika Shukla had met Gonda Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Indrajeet Prajapati and explained that her documents were misused by proxy candidates to land up with jobs and draw salaries totalling over Rs 1 crore for more than a year.
She told the official that she had applied for a teacher’s job in the government-run Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya chain but did not join for personal reasons.
Meanwhile, the real Anamika’s husband Durgesh Shukla said: “Anamika has been offered a job of primary schoolteacher by a private school, Chandrabhan Dutt Smarak Vidyalaya, after its management read the news that she was jobless.”
“Both of us are jobless. We cannot refuse the offer made by the school. However, the final decision rests with my wife. It was nice of the school management to offer her a job after reading her story,” Durgesh said.
