Ex-Ghousia trust chief faces cheating charge

Bengaluru, Jan. 23: It appears that the former governing council chairman of Ghousia Industrial and Engineering Trust located on Hosur Road, adjacent to Christ University, is in trouble following a criminal complaint filed against him by his successor.

The former governing council chairman, Subhan Shariff, is accused of cheating the staff and other office bearers of Ghousia Polytechnic for Women of nearly Rs 78 lakh. The current Chairman, Dr Ahmed Shariff Siraj, has filed a complaint at Suddaguntepalya police station on January 8.

In his complaint, Siraj has stated that he took over as Chairman of the Trust in 2019, while Shariff was heading the governing council from 2013 to 2018.

“Shariff had claimed that he will ensure the college gets aided status from the state government and cheated the staff and office bearers. He is alleged to have collected money from the victims saying that once the institution gets aided status, all of them would be entitled to government salary. He is said to have taken money from the victims in order to obtain aided status. He was also threatening the victims for questioning him,” said Siraj in his police complaint.

Shariff is also accused of non-payment of salaries for the staff members. The incident came to light after Siraj took over as the chairman and the victims started complaining about his predecessor. Following a series of such allegations, the present chairman is said to have conducted an internal inquiry and found that Rs 30.84 lakh in cash has been collected from the staff by Shariff during his tenure.

“Shariff has not paid salaries for 40 months and it was difficult for the workers to run their families. Most of the colleagues were in dire straits. However the present chairman is giving the salaries and we are hoping that our pending salaries will be cleared,”Ayesha Sultana, Principal, Ghousia Polytechnic for Women told NT.

The Suddaguntepalya police have registered a case and are on the lookout for Shariff. The case has been registered for criminal intimidation (IPC 506) and cheating (IPC 420).