ED arrests 4 in Himachal Pradesh scholarship ‘scam’

In a statement, the enforcement directorate said a special PMLA court in Shimla sent them to its custody for five days

Four people, including a former official of the state higher education directorate, have been arrested in a case linked to an alleged ₹200 crore scam in grant of scholarships to SC, ST and OBC students of the state, the ED said on Thursday.

It had seized unaccounted cash of ₹75 lakh and froze ₹2.55 crore lying in bank accounts during these raids. (iStock)

They were arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Rajdeep Josan and Krishan Kumar, partners at ASAMS education group, Hitesh Gandhi, vice-chairperson of KC group of institutions, Pandoga, and Arvind Rajta, a former official of the state directorate of higher education’s scholarship branch, were taken into custody on Wednesday.

In a statement, the enforcement directorate said a special PMLA court in Shimla sent them to its 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, the agency alleged.

Similarly, it 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 probe found.

It had seized unaccounted cash of ₹75 lakh and froze ₹2.55 crore lying in bank accounts during these raids.