The seizure came during searches conducted in connection with the PG Medical Seat Blocking Scam in medical colleges in the state.
Published Jun 23, 2023 | 12:13 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 23, 2023 | 12:14 AM
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday, 21 June, seized unaccounted-for cash of ₹1.4 crore and froze ₹2.89 crore in the bank account of the Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences, along with various incriminating documents, digital devices, and records of cash transactions.
The seizure came in connection with the Postgraduate (PG) Medical Seat-Blocking Scam in medical colleges in Telangana.
The ED conducted searches on 12 medical colleges at 16 locations in Hyderabad, Khammam, Karimnagar and other places across Telangana under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Wednesday in connection with PG Medical Seat-Blocking Scam.
ED has conducted searches at the premises of 12 private medical colleges and offices of related persons at 16 locations in Hyderabad, Khammam, Karimnagar and other places across Telangana under the provisions of the PMLA on 21.06.2023 in case of PG Medical Seat Blocking Scam.
— ED (@dir_ed) June 22, 2023
It should be mentioned that the Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences was founded by BRS MLA and Telangana Labour Minister Chamakura Malla Reddy.
The Income-Tax (I-T) Department earlier carried out searches at his home.
In February 2023, the ED registered a case of money laundering on the basis of an FIR filed by the Matwada police in Warangal in April 2022.
That FIR was based on a complaint filed by Praveen Kumar, the then-registrar of the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS), against unknown persons.
In the complaint, he said that around 45 seats were unlawfully reserved in several colleges under the false pretence that they were allotted to students from northern states under the convenor quota or as free seats based on merit in the NEET PG exam.
When university authorities reached out to the students whose names appeared on the blocked seats, they denied ever seeking admission at KNRUHS.
There were suspicions that certain private colleges might have been involved in this fraudulent scheme, aiming to transfer the blocked seats to the NRI quota in order to gain substantial financial benefits.
Despite repeated warnings from the university authorities against such practices, the admission process revealed discrepancies in the merit list concerning 45 applicants.
These individuals eventually said that they had never applied for admission to colleges affiliated with KNRUHS.
As a result of these alleged irregularities, deserving candidates from Telangana were unjustly denied admission opportunities.
The registrar alleged that some agencies were involved in seat-blocking in collusion with students and private institutions in Telangana and other states and in obtaining relevant documents of candidates required for registration under KNRUHS.
The ED investigation by ED revealed that the university, during its own inquiries, detected five candidates who informed that they had not even applied for counselling with the KNRUHS.
The probe further revealed that seats were blocked using credentials of high-scoring PG NEET candidates from other states, and after the mop-up round of counselling and the last date of admission, the seats were reported to the university as vacant.
Such vacant seats were declared stray vacancies by the university, and given to the respective private medical colleges for admission under the management and institutional quotas.
These seats were then sold off at exorbitant premiums ranging anywhere between ₹1 crore and ₹2.5 crore.
To curb the menace of seat blocking, the university had declared a penalty on the defaulting candidates.
However, the ED investigation revealed that the penalty was being paid by or on behalf of the seat-blocking candidates out of the premium collected for the sale of the PG medical seats.
Search operations were conducted at several medical institutions in various districts of Telangana.
The Chalmeda Anand Rao Institute of Medical Sciences in Bommakal and the Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences in Nagunur, both located in Karimnagar district, were among the institutions searched.
Additionally, searches were conducted at the Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences in Narketpally, Nalgonda district, Mamatha Medical College in Khammam, MNR Medical College in Sangareddy, Bhaskar Medical College in Moinabad, Rangareddy district, MediCiti Institute of Medical Sciences in Medchal, SVS Medical College in Mahabubnagar, Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences in Suraram, Maheswara Medical College in Patancheru, Patnam Mahendar Reddy Medical College in Chevella, and the Deccan College of Medical Sciences in the city.
The search operations resulted in the seizure of incriminating documents, digital devices, and records of cash transactions running into hundreds of crores of rupees relating to the collection of cash fees and premiums from PG medical candidates as well as MBBS students.
