Shimla, December 30
The bribery case of ED Assistant Director Vishal Deep Singh is linked to the famous scholarship scam of Himachal. The owners of educational institutions have accused ED Assistant Director Vishal Deep Singh of demanding a bribe of Rs 25 crore. In this case, the CBI has taken action and recovered a bribe of Rs 55 lakh. The main accused, Vishal Deep Singh is currently absconding.
This is the Matter
The scholarship scam is related to the embezzlement of a scholarship amount of about Rs 181 crore between 2013 and 2017 in Himachal. This amount was given by the Central Government to help the students in the SC, ST and OBC categories. In the year 2019, on the request of the state government, the CBI started investigating the matter. The investigation found that out of 276 educational institutions, 29 institutions misused this amount.
The owners of educational institutions allege that everything was going well till October 2023, but in November, Assistant Director Vishal Deep Singh started harassing the institutions by calling them to the ED office. He demanded Rs 1 crore from each institution and threatened to arrest them if the money was not paid.
The institute owners said in a press conference held in Shimla that the demand for bribes bothered them so much that they came to the point of committing suicide. They were forced to complain to the CBI. The CBI took action on the basis of the complaint and laid a trap in Zirakpur and Panchkula. Here the accused reached to take the bribe. The CBI recovered a bribe amount of Rs 55 lakh. The accused’s brother Vikas Deep Singh was also found involved in this conspiracy.
Two other ED officials, Neeraj Garg and Sunil Kumar, have also been accused of demanding bribes. After the CBI raid, the ED has suspended the main accused, Vishal Deep Singh, but he is still absconding. There are serious allegations against 27 institutions in Himachal Pradesh and outside states in the scholarship scam. Of these, 19 institutes are from Himachal and 8 from other states. The CBI has earlier arrested officials of several institutes. The ED had attached assets worth Rs 4.50 crore of an institute in Punjab, which includes a study center in Una, Himachal.
The High Court also monitored the case and summoned reports from time to time. This scam is a serious case of playing with the future of students and misuse of government schemes.
