NEW DELHI: At the Roots Tower in east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar, students made their way to the fifth floor each day to attend FIITJEE coaching classes in their pursuit of a future as engineers. However, there was despair for around 500 students and their parents when the centre suddenly shut shop.
The unannounced closure of the coaching centre for aspiring engineers resulted in the parents filing a police complaint at the Preet Vihar police station. A complaint was also received at the Kalu Sarai police station. A police officer said, “A number of complaints have been filed across Delhi, with parents alleging that the centre was closed without prior notice. They are worried that this disruption will put their children’s futures at risk. We will investigate these complaints.”
In Noida too, parents of those studying at the FIITJEE centre in Sector 62 filed a complaint on Thursday. “They submitted a written complaint at Sector 58 police station,” said Rambadan Singh, DCP, Noida. “An FIR was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita’s sections 316 (2) (criminal breach of trust) and 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) against nine officials of FIITJEE.”
Ajay Kumar, whose son was enrolled at the Laxmi Nagar centre, said, “My son was all set to attend classes as usual but found the centre closed. Despite the parents gathering at the centre in confusion and frustration, no one from the institute could be found to address their concerns.”
Kumar added, “I paid over ₹3 lakh for a two-year course for my son, who is in Class XI. He attended only eight months of coaching and now the remaining money seems lost. There’s no one at FIITJEE to address our concerns. Even the teachers we spoke to said they had shifted to other institutes.”
Another parent, Mukesh, said, “My son was doing the four-year programme straddling classes IX-XII and I had paid the full fees. We learnt about teachers not being paid their salaries. When we visited the centre, we learnt that even the housekeeping staff hadn’t been paid. The centre head is not picking up anybody’s calls. He did not even pick up the SHO’s call. They were admitting students till 15 days ago, so imagine how much money people have lost.”
A former staff member revealed that the centre struggled to operate effectively for some time. A teacher who left to join another coaching institute, claimed, “I went without pay for several months, and it became extremely difficult to carry on in such circumstances. We repeatedly tried to contact the management to resolve the issue, but they never offered any solutions, leaving us with no choice but to leave.”
In Noida, Amit Banka of Indirapuram, father of a Class XII student, said, “My son’s JEE Mains exam is on Feb 24, and now he has to prepare from home. This FIITJEE fiasco has disrupted a crucial academic year.” Alok Yadav, whose son studies in Class X, claimed to have paid Rs 4 lakh in fees. “We demand an immediate refund,” Yadav said, fearing that the FIITJEE chairman could flee the country “having defrauded us”.
Dharmveer Singh, district inspector of schools, disclosed that the Noida centre was registered under the UP Coaching Regulations Act. “We are coordinating with police to ensure appropriate action,” he added.
Noida Police registered an FIR against FIITJEE directors DK Goel, Monila Goel, Partha Halder, Sadhu Ram Bansal, Rustam Dinshaw Batliwala, Shahsikant Dubey, Mohit Sardana, Anand Raman P and the Sector 62 centre in-charge, Ramesh Batlish at the Sector 58 police station. “No arrests have been made yet,” an officer said.
Meanwhile, FIITJEE attributed the closure of its centres to “force majeure”. It said, “Overnight desertion of the centre by the centre managing partner along with the entire team was the only reason for this force majeure type of closure. Company officials are working to resume operations at all places within a reasonable time.”
The institute also acknowledged the police complaints filed by the parents. “”The So far as criminal cases lodged against FIITJEE are concerned, our legal team is taking appropriate action against the malicious prosecutions lodged against us,” it said.
“The present turmoil is temporary,” FIITJEE insisted and said the truth behind the “criminal conspiracy hatched by people with vested interests” would be revealed by investigations.
