CHINIOT: The district police unearthed a scam, depriving the deserving and talented students of a total Rs4300,000 granted to them under the Punjab government’s Zaver-i-Taleem Scholarship programme, arresting 27 retailers involved in the fraud.

The scam surfaced when parents of two students lodged complaints/FIRs against some retailers at Chenab Nagar police station under section 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

A complainant, Khalid Mehmood, a resident of Chinioti Road, Chiniot, stated that he received a call from a man, who introduced himself as an official of the Benazir Income Support Programme (Bisp), saying that his children’s educational stipend can be collected from him near the River Chenab Park.

The complainant said that when he went there,four unidentified persons with a vending machine and a biometric device, apparently tried to take his fingerprints. However, Mr Khalidwas told that the biometric machine was facing an error.

He said that later he came to know that the suspects had withdrawn Rs36,000 meant for his children’s scholarship granted under the Punjab government’s “Zaiver-i-Taleem Programme” by fraudulently taking his fingerprints.

Similarly, another complainant, Ms Anum Shahzadi of Mohallah Mustafaabad, Lalian town, said in her FIR registered on December 31, 2025, that she was called at Chenab Nagar, where four suspects sitting along a road got her fingerprints and deprived her of Rs24,000, meant for her children’s scholarship.

Taking notice of the complaints, the district police, through a network of informers, traced 27 retailers involved in the scam and arrested them.

The police claim that the arrested suspects not only confessed to have committed the fraud, but also surrendered a total sum of Rs4300,000 and the electronic gadgets used to plunder the innocent parents, depriving their children of the educational scholarship.

DPO Dr Naveed Atif, during a press conference, said the amount recovered from the suspects would be returned to the affected parents after verification.

He also warned parents of such scams and advised them not to fall prey to the scammers, and inform police and the department awarding the scholarships about these fraudsters.

He also asked the parents to withdraw such biometric-related amounts from trusted shopkeepers only.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2026