ITAHARI: Police today took a man into custody on the charge of swindling a huge sum out of three students here from Itahari of Sunsari. The accused Ram Bahadur Adhikari, a resident of Biratnagar-6, who identified himself to be “secretary of Ministry of Education”, had collected a huge sum from the students luring them of scholarships in the US universities. Adhikari was first apprehended by the victim students and their parents. Subsequently, he was handed over to police. The students and their families were hunting him after he reportedly disappeared after collecting the huge sum from them. According to police, Adhikari had swindled Rs 4.1 lakh from Sabin Sitaula of Morang’s Sundarpur-9, Rs 1.7 lakh from Anup Uprety and Rs 1.8 lakh from Kalyan Sitaula of Itahari-4. “Adhikari has admitted to the crime and we are carrying out further investigation and legal proceedings,” the police informed.