West Bengal witnesses new ‘tab scam’ under watch of Mamata Banerjee, criminals siphon off student funds meant for purchasing tablets

In the meantime, West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu had attempted to downplay the severity of the case and dubbed it as a' one-time glitch.'

The State of West Bengal has been rocked by yet another scam under the watch of the Mamata-led-Trinamool Congress government.

On Thursday (14th November), the Kolkata police formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the siphoning of funds from the bank accounts of beneficiaries of ‘Taruner Swapno’ Scheme.

Under this scheme that was launched in 2022, the Mamata government disburses a sum of ₹10,000 to the bank accounts of students in Classes 11th and 12th for the purchase of smartphones and tablets.

The objective behind the ‘Taruner Swapno’ scheme is to bridge the digital divide between the students. An amount of ₹900 crores was allocated for the scheme in the Financial Year 2024-2025.

A whopping 107 students have filed complaints with the Kolkata police, alleging that the money sanctioned by the government was transferred to other accounts.

The Kolkata police have arrested 2 people, Krishnapada Barman and Sariful Islam, in connection with the case. Both are said to be residents of Chopra in Uttar Dinajpur district.

The ‘tab scam’ also occurred in South 24 Parganas, Malda, Murshidabad, Paschim Bardhaman and Uttar Dinajpur districts of West Bengal. Reportedly, 35 schools and 400 students were affected in South 24 Parganas.

About 181 bank accounts were frozen in Malda following complaints of a ‘tab scam.’ 4 accused namely, Rocky Sk, Sraban Sarkar, Jamal Hossain and Pintu Sk, were arrested from the district.

A total of 11 arrests have been made so far. According to a preliminary probe, several cybercafes in the State were involved in executing the scam.

The high-profile financial fraud is unique in the sense that money was siphoned off despite being a ‘direct benefit scheme’ where funds are transferred directly to the bank account of beneficiaries and eliminating the ‘middle man’.

As per the Kolkata police, the scammers used multiple mule accounts to siphon off the funds. These accounts are based in Chopra, Islampur, Kishanganj and other parts of North Bengal.

“Account holders were given anything between ₹300 and ₹5,000 to grant access to their bank accounts. Mule accounts are bank accounts that facilitate illegal transactions by receiving and transferring funds from unlawful activities, with or without the complicity,” an officer informed.

“The schools have collected the data of the students and sent it to the office of the district inspector of schools. The data was sent to the school education department from there. Which in turn was sent to the state treasury. We are trying to find out at which layer the data was compromised,” he added.

The stolen funds were withdrawn through ATM kiosks within 1-2 hours of the fraud. The police have recovered CCTV footage and are now trying to ascertain the identity of the accused.

No political accountability

In the meantime, West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu had attempted to downplay the severity of the case and dubbed it as a’ one-time glitch.’

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari slammed the ruling TMC government for being involved in scams pertaining to every welfare scheme in the State.

The Mamata Banerjee-led-West Bengal government has been under the scanner over multiple scams, which took place under its regime since 2011.

TMC leaders have previously been involved in the Rose Valley scam, the teachers’ recruitment scam, the Sharda scam, the cow-smuggling scam and a coal scam.