The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday carried out searches at multiple locations in Bengaluru as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged engineering seat-blocking scam in several private colleges, according to sources.

The institutions raided include BMS College of Engineering, Akash Institute of Engineering and Technology, and New Horizon College of Engineering. In addition, the ED searched the premises of BMS trustees, their key associates, and several education consultants and agents.

Authorities suspect that the engineering colleges colluded with the accused and played a role in facilitating illegal money laundering operations.

The Bengaluru zonal unit of the federal investigative agency is conducting the probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), officials said.

According to a senior police officer, the accused operated across South India—including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Goa—using multiple IP addresses to unlawfully block engineering seats. These digital footprints led to the arrest of ten individuals by Malleswaram police.

The FIR filed by the Malleswaram police alleges that several unidentified middlemen, in coordination with private engineering colleges in Bengaluru, illegally blocked thousands of seats, making them unavailable to genuine candidates.

Initial investigations indicate that 2,625 government engineering seats were fraudulently blocked and later converted into management quota seats. This manipulation enabled institutions to earn substantial profits, while causing significant financial losses to the government and denying opportunities to deserving students.

Inputs from Deccan Herald

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