Two more persons were arrested from Malda and North Dinajpur districts on Friday night for allegedly siphoning off money from the scheme under which Rs 10,000 each is granted to higher secondary students to buy smartphones or tabs.

In Malda, police arrested Serajul Mia from his house in Sahabanchak panchayat. The police said the grant under the Taruner Swapna scheme was transferred to Mia's bank account.

“He received a commission of ₹2,000 for allowing the hackers to use his bank account. After the money was credited to his account, he went to a bank's CSP (customer service point) and withdrew the amount. Serajul took his commission and paid the rest of the amount to the racket,” said a police source.

The grant was supposed to be sent to the students of a state-aided school in Gazole. It is not clear how many students' grant was transferred to Mia's account.

Pradeep Kuma Yadav, the superintendent of police of Malda, said two teams had been formed to probe the defalcation of funds under the Taruner Swapna scheme.

“So far, five cases have been registered at three police stations. While the CID is probing two cases, we are probing the remaining three,” he said.

Mohammad Alam, a grocer, was arrested from Rangchari village in Islampur, North Dinajpur, for allegedly siphoning off money from the scheme. He was arrested by Gorubathan police in Kalimpong district.

“About a month ago, ₹10,000 was credited to his bank account and he withdrew it. It was later found that the money was transferred to his account, instead of a student from Gorubathan,” said a police officer.

The grocer's family members and neighbours expressed surprise over Alam’s arrest. “He gets financial assistance from the state government and thought the money credited to his account was the grant. He has no connection with any racket,” said a family member.

During the probe, the police found that those associated with the racket had offered commissions to some people so that the money siphoned off from the scheme would be credited to their bank accounts.

The grants for 13 students of Kichaktala High School, which is in Goalpokhar of North Dinajpur district, have been transferred to others' bank accounts in Chopra, Goalpokhar and even in Kerala.

Subhash Chandra Biswas, the headmaster, has filed a complaint at the cyber crime police station of the Islampur police district.