ED seizes Rs 194 cr assets of pvt univ promoter in HP

Shimla: Sending a strong signal, Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached property, both commercial and residential, apart from FDs worth over Rs 194 crore belonging to Raj Kumar Rana, promoter of Manav Bharti University–a private university involved in the fake degree scam in Himachal Pradesh.

The investigations into the scam was being done by an SIT set-up by the state government under Additional DGP (CID) N Venugopal, which has detected 36000 fake degrees issued by the university.

The university set-up under the banner of Manav Bharti Trust.

Himachal Director General of police Sanjay Kundu told media persons here that the SIT has been successful in detecting involvement of the university, its promoter Raj Kumar Rana, three of his family members –all trustees and some employees of the university.

While Rana was arrested sometime back, his other three members including wife, son and daughter were in Australia. The efforts are underway to seek their extraction.

The property attached is located in 17 states including Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, J&K, Jharkhand, MP and Kerala.

Fix FDs of Rs 7.72 crore and property in the form of land, residential houses and commercial buildings worth Rs 186.44 crore are highlights of the assets.

DGP said he has been told by the ED that it is the first time that a scam of such a large proportion has been detected in the education sector under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

He said this was just the tip of the iceberg. "Picture abhi baki hai," DGP said, hinting at more revelations as the investigations proceed. He also disclosed that another FIR could be lodge to investigate how the university was issued Letter of Intent (LOI) in 2009 when their plea was rejected in 2008.