ED Raids in WB Over Fake NRI Quota Admissions
West Bengal- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently carried out raids and searches at 8 Private Medical Colleges at six locations in West Bengal in connection with irregularities in admissions to private medical colleges under the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) quota. The six locations include Kolkata and adjoining South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts.
According to the IANS news report, sources said that the ED conducted the raids after a complaint was lodged at a local police station on the northern outskirts of Kolkata. The complaint alleged that several candidates created fake NRI certificates to get admission under the quota in several private medical colleges. Therefore, with the help of those fake certificates, several candidates got admission under the quota despite not being NRIs.
Sources also informed that ED officials are currently probing the matter following specific information that such irregularities in admissions to private medical colleges were being carried out by taking huge cash payments from the candidates.
Each team of raiding officers was accompanied by Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel. However, a total of eight private medical colleges operating in West Bengal are currently under the purview of the ED's investigation, report IANSLive.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time that ED officials have conducted raids and searches in West Bengal in this connection. Medical Dialogues had reported in December last year that the ED had raided 19 locations in West Bengal, including seven medical colleges in the state, on charges of irregularities in MBBS admissions.
The search operations were carried out in the city's IT hub Salt Lake, the industrial port town of Haldia in East Medinipur, Durgapur in West Burdwan and another industrial area called Budge Budge in South 24 Parganas.
