Complaint against Gujarat University professor for misappropriating Rs 4.09 cr

Ahmedabad: The Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) police on Friday registered a complaint against an associate professor of Gujarat University, Kamaljeet Lakhtaria, for allegedly misappropriating Rs 4.09 crore.

Lakhtaria, who was appointed as the coordinator of the animation department on December 29, 2015, was responsible for administrative tasks, including collecting student fees, managing operations, appointing knowledge partners, and overseeing finances. After financial discrepancies emerged in 2023, a probe was launched, which revealed that Lakhtaria misappropriated Rs 1.15 crore into personal accounts, transferred Rs 1.64 crore to traders without documentation, and overpaid knowledge partners between 2017 and 2022.

Lakhtaria admitted to transferring Rs 1.15 crore “by mistake” and returned Rs 67.32 lakh during the inquiry but failed to clear the outstanding Rs 4.09 crore owed to the university. Based on the findings, a case of criminal breach of trust has been filed against him.