ED conducts raids at 18 locations in state in connection with seat blocking scam

BENGALURU: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials conducted raids at 18 locations across Karnataka, including in Bengaluru, in connection with the alleged seat-blocking scam in engineering colleges and money laundering.

The ED is investigating the alleged irregularities in the allocation of seats in engineering colleges, where seats were allegedly blocked and then sold to students at exorbitant prices.

Cybercrime officers discovered the role of middlemen during the investigation, and a Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) staffer was found to be involved — he used to sell seats for Rs 60 lakh. The middlemen used the login password and access secret key of the candidates to get the candidates selected.

According to sources, the scam involved middlemen who would block seats under government quota and then sell them to students at a higher price. The ED has seized documents and is investigating the role of several engineering colleges, including BMS College and Akash Institute of Engineering.

The police had earlier arrested 10 accused, including Harsha, Prakash, Ravishankar, Puneeth, Shashikumar, Purushottam and Avinash, in connection with the scam. The gang was targeting those who attended counselling at KEA, but did not select a college. In this way, 2625 students were rejected for various reasons.

The gang was blocking the seats of students who did not get government seats and was dealing with others under the management quota for lakhs of rupees. The accused Prakash burnt the laptop to destroy evidence when he came to know that a case had been registered. The complaint was filed by KEA administrator Isaluddin J Gadiyal on November 13 last year.

There were allegations of illegal seat blocking at BMS College, and a case was registered at Hanumanthanagar police station. Ramesh Nayak had filed a complaint against the BMS College Trust, alleging irregularities in seat allocation. The FIR filed against Ragini Narayan, the chairperson of the BMS Trust, alleged that the college had violated AICTE and UGC norms by allocating seats through agents instead of merit-based allocation. The college was also accused of collecting crores of rupees in fees through these irregular means.

The ED is now probing the money laundering aspect of the case and has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).