CBI Inspector dismissed; DSP, others booked in nursing college scam

The CBI has so far arrested 13 persons in the case, including the brother of an influential BJP leader from Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh.

SNS | New Delhi | May 22, 2024 : CBI Inspector dismissed; DSP, others booked in nursing college scam :CBI

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has dismissed an Inspector from service and registered FIRs against a CBI DSP and two more Inspectors along with 19 other persons in connection with a nursing college scam in Madhya Pradesh.

The CBI has so far arrested 13 persons in the case, including the brother of an influential BJP leader from Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, who is suspected to have played the main role as a middleman between the now-dismissed CBI Inspector and the Nursing College owners who allegedly paid bribes between Rs 10-25 lakh each to the Inspector to get a favourable report about the facilities and faculties available in their colleges.

The CBI had initially begun investigating the alleged scam involving 364 nursing colleges in MP on the orders of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2022.

During investigations, the agency received complaints that some of its officials tasked with probing the scam were taking huge bribes from the owners of nursing colleges that were either merely operating on paper or without adequate facilities. In return, the CBI officials were presenting false favourable reports about such colleges in the High Court.

Acting on the complaints, the Internal Vigilance Unit of the CBI, New Delhi, caught one of its investigating officers, Inspector Rahul Raj, red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from ‘Malay College of Nursing’ Chairman Anil Bhaskaran and his wife Suma Anil at Indore on 18 May.

A day later, another CBI Inspector Sushil Kumar Majoka was also arrested. Majoka is an Inspector in the Madhya Pradesh Police on deputation with the CBI.

Rahul Raj was dismissed from service on 21 May.

In its FIR, the CBI has named CBI’s Bhopal DSP Ashish Prasad and Inspector Rishikant Asathe along with Om Giri Goswami, the brother of an influential BJP leader from Mandsaur. Goswami is suspected to have played a crucial role as the main conduit between Rahul Raj and the college owners who allegedly paid bribes.

The FIR has named 23 accused and the CBI said it has so far arrested 13 of them.

The Central Bureau of Investigation said it had raided 31 locations in connection with the scam across Bhopal, Ratlam, Indore, and Jaipur, recovering Rs 2.3 crore in cash, 4 gold bars, 36 digital devices, and over 150 incriminating documents.

The High Court has remanded the accused persons to Central Bureau of Investigation custody until 29 May.