The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted searches at various locations, including the premises of officials from the Himachal Pradesh education department, private universities and other individuals, as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering related to a scam involving scholarships for SC, ST, and OBC students in the state. A total of 24 locations in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Delhi were targeted in these raids, according to an official statement.
During the operation, unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 75 lakh was seized and Rs 2.55 crore held in bank accounts was frozen, according to a statement by the Enforcement Directorate. The action primarily focused on individuals associated with the state education department, banking institutions, as well as proprietors of entities connected to private universities and educational institutions. These entities are suspected of being involved in significant embezzlement related to the distribution of scholarship funds, the statement mentioned.
The money laundering case stems from a FIR of the Central Bureau of Investigation with regard to scholarship disbursed by the Directorate of Higher Education, Himachal Pradesh, under the post-matric scholarship scheme for SC, ST and OBC students, it added.
With inputs from PTI.