Bengaluru Engineering Seat Blocking Scam: ED conducts raids at 18 locations in Karnataka; Akash Institute premises searched
: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), the country's financial crime-fighting agency, on Wednesday launched searches at 18 premises located in several parts of Karnataka, including Bengaluru, in a case linked to a scam involving fraudulent blocking of seats in private engineering colleges in the state. At the time of publishing this report, raids led by the ED's Bengaluru office were underway.
The main institutions accused in this case are BMS College of Engineering, Akash Institute of Engineering and Technology, and New Horizon College of Engineering, sources told Zee Business.
Among the premises being searched are the Trustee of BMS offices, and the offices and residences linked to certain private education consultants and seat-blocking agents, according to the sources.
The development comes amid allegations that seats in top engineering colleges in the state were allotted to students illegally in the 2024–25 academic year. The scam was unearthed last year when police-led investigations led to several arrests in the matter.
The crime-fighting agency has since taken over the probe from the local police amid complaints of suspected large-scale financial irregularities and money laundering through blocked seats.
The illegal blocking of seats was carried out by misusing the student applicants' IP addresses for government quota engineering seats in private colleges.
In November, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), a state-run body responsible for conducting various entrance exams and facilitating admissions, lodged an FIR at the Malleshwaram police station.
After that, the police arrested at least 10 individuals in Bengaluru, including a contractual employee of the state body.
Private colleges in the state are required to fill 45 per cent of their seats through a government quota under a concessional fee structure.
The remaining 55 per cent seats are filled at the fee structures decided by the private institutions.
Candidates for these seats are selected through the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET).
