Viral ‘30 ml professor’ held for Rs 1-crore fraud

The accused chartered accountant Dhaval Purohit

A city-based chartered accountant, who had earlier gone viral on social media as "30 ml professor", was arrested by Raipur police on Wednesday in a Rs 1-crore coaching class fraud. The accused Dhaval Purohit allegedly took fees from CA and CS students on behalf of a coaching centre but did not deposit the same with the centre. Police earlier in November arrested his accomplice Abhinandan Bafna from Raipur.

The complainant, Jitendra Shah, is a managing director of JK Coaching Classes which specialises in CA and CS courses and has more than 52 branches across the country. Police officers said the fraud took place between January 2019 and November 2020 in Raipur, after the coaching centre opened a new branch there. Bafna was posted as the in-charge while Purohit worked as the mediator between Bafna and Shah.

The main accused's accomplice was arrested earlier in November in the case. Representation pic

Police said, "Shah found some irregularities in fees collection and asked for a detailed report from Bafna, who on December 20, 2020 submitted a report with many fake fees receipts. Shah then enquired with Bafna about the same and set up a forensic audit which found the tune of the fraud over R1 crore. However, as Bafna and his father apologised for the same and assured to pay back the money, Shah did not take any action at the time."

After not getting the money despite several reminders, Shah finally approached the Kotvali police in Raipur on October 22 this year and a case was filed against Bafna under Sections 420 and 409 of the IPC for cheating and criminal breach of trust.

After due interrogation, police arrested Bafna and found out that Purohit was the mastermind behind the fraud and arrested him.

Senior Inspector Ramchandra Sahu of Kotvali police station in Raipur told mid-day, "We have arrested the main accused Dhaval Purohit who is the mastermind. Both the accused are equally involved in the crime and we have arrested them both. We have also seized a mobile phone. We are further investigating the matter."

20 Oct
Day when the case was filed

Dec
Month last year when the coaching class fraud came to light