New Delhi/Bengaluru, 28 June

The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday alleged that admission of students through the management quota in three City-based private colleges was being done in an "opaque" manner using money, including funds in cash.

The federal probe agency's statement comes after they conducted searches at 17 locations on 25-26 June in a "seat blocking scam" case.

The raids were carried out at the premises of BMS College of Engineering, Akash Institute of Engineering and Technology, and New Horizon College of Engineering, along with those associated with these institutions, the agency said in a statement.

During the searches, a total of Rs 1.37 crore in cash was allegedly seized. However, the ED did not specify the source of the recovered funds. The searches revealed "evidence" of "widespread" seat blocking and the use of cash/money in the admission process for popular professional courses in the institutes, it said.

The agency alleged that the admission for management quota seats was mostly done in an opaque manner based on extraneous considerations such as cash or money.

A few entities engaged in educational consultancy services and some private agents were also raided.

The ED case stems from a Karnataka Police FIR registered by the KEA (Karnataka Examination Authority) against these colleges.

The complaint alleged that these colleges colluded with unknown individuals to acquire the login credentials of students registered with the KEA and subsequently blocked seats in their name for students who did not intend to enroll, the ED said.

"There is an extensive network of agents, educational consultancy service entities, which is used to bring students for admission from across India to these institutes," the statement said.