Ahmedabad: The Sola Police on Wednesday arrested Harshal Sureshchandra Lahiri, one of the seven accused linked with embezzlement of ₹5 crore from Nirma University, and secured a three-day police remand for further investigation.

The fraud came to light after an internal audit revealed that over ₹5 crore had been siphoned off over a two-year period from accounts meant for student activities and book refunds. According to the FIR filed on November 14 at the Sola High Court Police Station, the prime accused, Prakash Thakor, who managed the university’s student-activity bank accounts, allegedly orchestrated the scam with the help of six associates.

The FIR names seven accused: Prakash Thakor, Niketan, Harshal Lahiri, Nandkishor, Mahesh Chhakhya, Jainam Veera, and Rohit Vikrambhai Thakor. They allegedly allowed their own or others’ bank accounts to be used in exchange for commissions, returning the remaining funds to the prime accused.

The audit found that a total of ₹5 crore was misappropriated between April 2023 and May 2025.

During the investigation, it was revealed that Harshal Lahiri had provided around 30 bank accounts to the main accused, which are now suspected to have been used for illegal financial transfers.

Government lawyer S.M. Sheikh told the court that further investigation is needed to track all accounts, verify documents, and identify other suspects. Police are examining bank records, SIM cards, and mobile phones, while efforts to trace the remaining accused are ongoing.

While the defence argued that Lahiri was cooperating and remand was unnecessary, the court accepted the prosecution’s request and ordered a three-day police remand. DeshGujarat