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ED raids CSI church headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram
Two years ago, the Kerala High Court had cancelled the admission of 11 MBBS students who got admission by submitting fake community certificates issued by the Bishop. In 2019, the state admission fee regulatory committee also found that the college accepted exorbitant fees from some NRI students
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday raided the headquarters of the Church of South India (CSI) diocese in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram and its many offices in connection with the medical seat corruption case and money-laundering allegations.
Many cases were registered against the diocese after it allegedly took huge amounts of money from students promising them seats at Somervell Memorial Medical College in Karakonam and there were also allegations of money-laundering by church-run institutions.
The ED conducted simultaneous raids at the offices of Bishop A Dhamaraj Rasalam, residence of church secretary T T Praveen, former director of the medical college Dr Bennet Abraham and offices of the medical college.
Two years ago, the Kerala High Court had cancelled the admission of 11 MBBS students who got admission by submitting fake community certificates issued by the Bishop. In 2019, the state admission fee regulatory committee also found that the college accepted exorbitant fees from some NRI students. Later, some students from Tamil Nadu also filed a complaint alleging that huge sums were taken by the college management for MBBS seats and that they were cheated. The CSI church was also in the news two months ago after its Thiruvananthapuram diocese was converted into a cathedral. Two groups, supporting and opposing the move, clashed with each other and later police dispersed them.
Former director of the medical college Dr Bennet Abraham was the CPI candidate against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram constituency in 2014 but he finished third. There was a controversy within the CPI that the seat was given to him after obtaining a big amount. Later the party had expelled many district-level leaders.
A spokesperson of the church blamed a section of believers for mounting “frivolous cases” against the Bishop and others. “We are co-operating well with all agencies. We will come out clean,” said spokesperson C R Godwin. The raid which started in the morning continued till late evening.
