BENGALURU: A money trail running through engineering colleges in Bengaluru has drawn the attention of federal investigators, who say admissions meant to be governed by merit were instead turned into a cash-driven enterprise, leaving behind seized properties, unaccounted crores and a widening inquiry into how the system was manipulated.
A Federal Attachment in Bengaluru
On a Wednesday morning in Bengaluru, the zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached a residential plot and two flats with a combined market value of ₹19.46 crore. The properties, according to officials, belonged to trustees of the BMS Educational Trust and were linked to an alleged bribery and admissions racket in engineering colleges run by the trust.
The attachment followed a series of searches conducted on June 25 and 26, 2025, which investigators say yielded material indicating large-scale collection of unaccounted cash in exchange for engineering seats. The ED’s action marked a significant escalation in a case that has its origins not in a single complaint, but in multiple police cases tied to irregular admissions.
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FIRs and the Origins of the Probe
The investigation was triggered by first information reports registered at the Malleswaram and Hanumanthanagar police stations in Bengaluru. These FIRs alleged irregularities in the admission of students to engineering courses through the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), the statutory body responsible for conducting entrance examinations and seat allocations in the state.
Based on these police cases, the central agency initiated a money-laundering probe to examine whether proceeds of crime were generated through systematic violations of admission norms. Officials said the focus was not only on individual transactions but on whether the process itself had been distorted over several admission cycles.
The Alleged Modus Operandi
According to the ED, engineering seats in colleges controlled by the trust were allegedly sold by the college management through a network of middlemen and agents. These intermediaries, some of whom presented themselves as educational consultants, are said to have acted as conduits between students and college authorities.
Investigators allege that cash was collected both directly from students and indirectly through these agents, bypassing formal fee structures and official accounting channels. Seized documents and digital evidence, the agency said, pointed to a coordinated mechanism designed to monetise admissions that were supposed to be regulated and transparent.
Unaccounted Cash and the Scale of Collections
The material gathered during searches indicated the collection of unaccounted cash amounting to ₹20.2 crore from the sale of engineering seats alone, officials said. The funds were allegedly generated through admissions in colleges controlled by the BMS Educational Trust and were kept outside the formal banking system.
The provisional attachment of properties, the ED said, was intended to prevent the dissipation of assets believed to be linked to these proceeds. The investigation remains ongoing, with officials indicating that further examination of financial records, agent networks and admission data is underway.
