Dehradun, Sept. 12 -- A Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the alleged irregularities in the minority scholarships in the state has begun its probe into the matter, with police chiefs of five districts being asked to conduct a preliminary probe and submit their plan of action within three days. SIT chief and inspector general of police (law and order) Nilesh Anand Bharne said, "We asked the district police in-charges of Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar, Rudraprayag and Nainital districts to conduct a preliminary investigation and submit their plan of action. A final action plan for further investigation will be drawn up on the basis of the preliminary findings." In July, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) after the central government flagged irregularities in institutions registered on the National Scholarship Portal and embezzlement of minority scholarship funds using fake documents. Officials said a prima facie probe found that some madrasas, Sanskrit schools and other educational institutions had claimed scholarships on the basis of forged records. "Any kind of irregularity in welfare programmes like scholarships will not be tolerated. Strict action will be taken against those found guilty," Dhami said. As per central government data for 2021-22 and 2022-23, 92 institutions in Uttarakhand are under suspicion. Of these, embezzlement was confirmed in 17 institutions during the preliminary investigation, where inflated student counts and fake Aadhaar and residence proofs were detected. Irregularities have surfaced in Saraswati Shishu Mandir High School in Udham Singh Nagar and Vasukedaar Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya in Rudraprayag, while institutions in Nainital, Haridwar and other districts are also under the scanner, officials said....