Bengaluru: ED cracks down on several engineering colleges accused of selling seats illegally

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted search operations at several private engineering colleges across Bengaluru on Wednesday in connection with a large-scale seat blocking scam. The raids began early in the morning and targeted over 18 locations including many well known institutions in the southern and northeastern parts of the city.

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The investigation follows a charge sheet filed by the Malleswaram police three months ago. It named an outsourced staff member of the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) and several others, accusing them of working as agents for private colleges. These individuals allegedly used multiple IP addresses to illegally block thousands of government quota seats across Karnataka. Authorities said the accused even travelled across South India including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Goa also to carry out the scam.

The scam is believed to have helped certain colleges convert government quota seats meant for students based on merit into management quota seats which are often sold at much higher fees. In total about 2,625 seats were misused in this way. This not only brought in large profits for the colleges involved but also denied many deserving students a fair chance at admission.

After local police made the first set of arrests in 2024 the Enforcement Directorate (ED) began looking into the money laundering angle. Both the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) and the police shared their findings with the ED which led to Wednesday’s raids across Bengaluru. Colleges like BMS College of Engineering, Akash Institute and others are being investigated. 

Individuals linked to these colleges are also being questioned. Officials suspect the scam might be part of a bigger pattern of money misuse in the education sector. They are now studying the embezzlement patterns. 

The case has raised serious concerns about how fair and transparent the engineering admission system in Karnataka really is. With the ED now leading the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), more arrests and property seizures are likely in the coming days.