‘Fake Rs 3.5-crore drone grant’ | Motive unclear, no money lost: Technical Education Minister urges probe by central agencies

A week after the Himachal Pradesh Police registered an FIR into the cyber fraud involving a purported Rs 3.5-crore defence grant to a Hamirpur polytechnic student, investigators are yet to establish the motive behind the elaborate deception.

Preliminary examination of bank accounts has revealed that no money was withdrawn or transferred from the joint account of 19-year-old Sarvesh Sharma and his mother, Kalpana Devi. The student was, however, kept under the impression for nearly two months that his drone project had secured government funding.

Himachal Pradesh Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani has questioned the intentions of those behind the fraud. “What was the motive of the cyber fraudsters who kept a computer engineering student under deception for nearly two months but did not take a single penny? They obtained his drone designs and project details. This is not an ordinary cybercrime case. There could be other students who have faced similar deception. The CBI or another central agency should investigate the matter.”

The minister, who had visited Sarvesh at PGIMER, Chandigarh, on Monday, said the technical education department formed an inquiry committee but felt the case warranted a central investigation.

Dharmani told The Indian Express, “I believe that central probe agencies should undertake this case.”

A family member said the joint bank account had been blocked and reiterated that the family had suffered no monetary loss so far. “Our concern is about the drone designs and technical documents Sarvesh shared with the fraudsters. We do not know how this information could be used,” they said.

Superintendent of Police (SP), Hamirpur, Balbir Singh, said the investigation is ongoing and preliminary scrutiny had not established any financial loss to the student.

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Meanwhile, the inquiry committee visited Government Polytechnic College, Hamirpur, on Tuesday.

A Joint Director led the team and inspected the students’ hostel room and classroom and recorded statements from his classmates, teachers, and college authorities. It also took possession of documents related to the project and the purported funding.

Sarvesh, a fifth-semester Computer Engineering student at Government Polytechnic College, Hamirpur, had submitted a proposal under the individual category on the purported iDEX website for a drone purportedly capable of evading radar detection. He subsequently received emails claiming that his project, titled ‘Rudra Edge T-1 (Spectra)’, had been approved for a Rs 3.5-crore grant from the Ministry of Defence.

However, the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), which oversees iDEX, has categorically denied sanctioning any such grant to Sarvesh or an associated startup. The Ministry of Defence has also denied releasing the claimed funds.

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Sarvesh had registered a startup, Rudra Edge, in September and opened a joint bank account with his mother to facilitate the purported release of the grant. The iDEX website, which had been displaying an under-maintenance message, was restored on Tuesday, according to the information provided by the organisation.