The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) conducted searches at 16 sites in Hyderabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, and other parts of Telangana in connection with the PG Medical Seat Blocking Scam, in accordance with the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Previously, in February 2023, the ED recorded a case of money laundering based on an FIR registered by the Matwada Police, Warangal on a complaint filed by the then-Registrar of the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) against unknown persons alleging that some agencies are involved in seat blocking in collusion with students / private institutions in Telangana & other states and in obtaining relevant documents of candidates required for registration.
The ED probe indicated that the University discovered five candidates who notified them that they had not even applied for counselling with the KNRUHS during its own enquiries.
An ED investigation revealed that seats were blocked using the credentials of high-scoring PG NEET candidates from other states, that after the mop-up round of counselling and the last date of admission, the seats were reported to the University as vacant, and that such vacant seats were declared by the University as stray vacancies and given to the respective private medical colleges for admission under the management/institutional quota. These seats were subsequently sold at astronomical prices ranging from Rs. 1 to Rs. 2.5 crores.
To combat the threat of seat blockage, the University imposed a penalty on delinquent applicants. However, an examination by the ED found that the penalty was paid by/on behalf of the seat-blocking applicants from the premium obtained for the selling of the PG Medical seats.
The search operations resulted in the discovery of incriminating papers, digital devices, and records of financial transactions totalling hundreds of billions of rupees related to the collecting of cash fees and premiums from both PG medical aspirants and MBBS students.
In addition, unaccounted cash totalling Rs. 1.4 crore was collected and confiscated from the Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences premises. During the search, the ED also froze Rs. 2.89 crores in a bank account of Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences, where cash received for medical PG admissions was alleged to have been put. Further inquiry into the problem is underway.
