ED arrests four in Rs 200-cr SC, ST scholarship scam

New Delhi, August 31

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today said it has arrested four people, including a former official of the Himachal Pradesh higher education directorate, under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case linked to the alleged Rs 200-crore scam in grant of scholarships to SC, ST and OBC students of the state.

The ED, in an official statement said, Rajdeep Josan and Krishan Kumar, partners at ASAMS education group, Hitesh Gandhi, vice chairman of KC group of institutions (located in Pandoga), and Arvind Rajta, a former official of the Himachal Pradesh Directorate of Higher Education’s scholarship branch, were taken into custody on Wednesday.

Former education official among them

• Among those arrested is a former official of the Himachal higher education directorate; the ED said a special PMLA court in Shimla had sent them to the agency’s custody for five days
• The ED’s case is based on an FIR of the CBI in which it was alleged that officials were involved in misappropriation of scholarship funds of more than Rs 200 crore.

The ED said a special PMLA court in Shimla had sent them to the agency custody for five days.

Josan and Kumar through ASAMS education group and skill development society claimed scholarship under the post-matric scheme for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) students by presenting “fabricated” documents, it alleged.

Similarly, the ED said, the KC group of institutions headed by Gandhi made “bogus” claims for scholarship, which were verified by Rajta. Gandhi transferred the scholarship disbursed in the bank account of students to the bank accounts of KC group of institutions, the ED said.

The ED’s case under provisions of the PMLA is based on an FIR of the CBI in which it was alleged that officials of Himachal Pradesh education department, private institutions and banks were involved in large-scale misappropriation of disbursement of scholarship funds of more than Rs 200 crore.

The ED had carried out raids on August 29 in the case at 24 locations in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi. It had seized unaccounted cash of Rs 75 lakh and froze Rs 2.55 crore lying in bank accounts during these raids, the agency said.