The Enforcement Directorate (ED) was conducting raid and search operations on Thursday at six locations in West Bengal, mainly in and around the state capital in connection with irregularities in admission to the private medical colleges under the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) quota.
Sources aware of the development said that ED raids are being conducted following a specific complaint filed at a local police station in the northern outskirts of Kolkata where it was alleged that fake NRI certificates were used in securing admissions under the quota in several private medical colleges operating. And by virtue of those fake certificates, many candidates secured admission under the quota despite not being NRIs.
Sources added that ED officials are investigating the matter based on specific information that such irregularities in admission at private medical colleges were being done against hefty cash payments.
At the time the report was filed, the six locations where the raids and search operations by the ED officials were being conducted include Kolkata and its adjacent South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts.
Each team of raiding officials was escorted by Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel. Under the ED scanner are a total of eight private medical colleges operating out of West Bengal.
This is not the first time that the ED officials have conducted raids and search operations in West Bengal in this connection. In December last year also, the central agency officials conducted similar raid and search operations in the matter at multiple locations in the state, including Salt Lake in the northern outskirts of Kolkata, the industrial township of Haldia in East Midnapore district, Durgapur in West Burdwan, Budge Budge in South Parganas and Birbhum among others.
At that point in time, at Haldia, the raid and search operations were conducted at the residence of the former CPI(M) Lok Sabha member from Tamluk Lakshman Seth, who runs an NGO operating private medical and dental colleges at Haldia.
At Birbhum, the private medical college where the ED raid and search operations are going on is owned by businessman Malay Pith, whose name first surfaced in connection with the multi-crore cattle smuggling case in West Bengal.
The matter of irregularities in the medical admissions under the NRI quota was first highlighted by the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari in September last year.
He alleged that in many such admissions, there were severe irregularities against hefty cash transactions which even included admission through the production of fake certificates. Adhikari also accused some senior officials attached to the state health department of being involved in the case.
Piyush Goyal meets top execs of Elon Musk's Starlink on firm’s India plans
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held a meeting with top executives of Elon Musk’s Starlink here on Wednesday to discuss the company’s investment plans for India.
Tripura: Two workers killed, two injured after tree collapses
At least two workers, including a woman of MGNREGA, were killed and two more seriously injured when a big tree got uprooted and fell on them in Tripura’s mountainous Dhalai district on Wednesday, officials said.
Finland President dials PM Modi, discusses ongoing collaborations in digitalization, mobility
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finland President Alexander Stubb reiterated their commitment to further strengthen and deepen the partnership between the two countries, including in the areas of quantum, 5G-6G, AI and cyber-security during their telephonic conversation, on Wednesday.
Mamata Banerjee’s govt must be dismissed: Shiv Sena on Bengal violence
Shiv Sena MP and Spokesperson Naresh Mhaske on Wednesday launched a fierce attack against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government, demanding the immediate dismissal of her government over its alleged failure to protect Hindus from repeated communal violence.
Herald case: BJP digs out Nehru-Patel's exchange to rebut Cong's charges
BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi, addressing a press conference, put up written exchanges between India’s first PM, Nehru and Sardar Patel regarding the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which controls the National Herald.
National Herald belongs to freedom fighters, not personal property of any family: Rajasthan BJP chief
Rajasthan BJP chief Madan Rathore on Wednesday lashed out at the Congress over the National Herald case, saying that the institution belongs to the freedom fighters, and it is not the personal property of any family.
'Concerned over violence': SC posts further hearing on Waqf (Amendment) Act challenge pleas for tomorrow
During the course of the hearing, the apex court indicated that it would pass an interim order providing that the properties already declared as waqf by court order or otherwise will not be denotified by virtue of the recent amendment.
Were Abdullahs on the same page with PM Modi on Article 370; ex-RAW chief says 'yes'
Former RAW chief, A.S. Dulat in his recent book, ‘The Chief Minister and the Spy’, has generated a storm in the tea cup for the ruling National Conference (NC) in Jammu and Kashmir by writing that the ‘former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah was secretly on board when Article 370 was removed’.