The Enforcement Directorate attached properties worth over ₹21 crore in two Karnataka scams. Assets of BMS Educational Trust worth ₹19.46 crore were seized in an engineering seat blocking case involving illegal cash collections. In a separate PSI recruitment scam, ED attached ₹1.53 crore assets of ADGP Amrit Paul and others over exam tampering and bribery.

Bengaluru: The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached immovable properties worth over ₹ 19.46 crore in connection with the engineering seat blocking scam involving BMS Educational Trust, which include a plot and two flats belonging to the trustees.

In another separate case, the ED has attached property worth over ₹ 1.53 crore belonging to ADGP Amrit Paul and a head constable Sridhar, who are accused in 2022 PSI recruitment scam.

In the case of BMS College of Engineering, the ED probe was based on FIRs filed in Malleswaram and Hanumantha Nagar police stations over alleged illegal collection of cash during engineering admissions through Karnataka Examinations Authority. The investigations revealed that students were charged amounts over and above the prescribed fees.

Searches conducted in June 2025 revealed that engineering seats in colleges run by the trust were allegedly sold through the middlemen and agents. Unaccounted cash was collected directly from the students as well as through educational consultants and was not recorded in the trust's account. During the search, the ED had recovered ₹ 1.86 crore cash and recorded evidence indicating collection of unaccounted cash of ₹ 20.20 crore, which was corroborated through diary entries and WhatsApp chats of college staff, management and the agents.

Meanwhile, in the PSI recruitment scam, ED had initiated investigation based on the complaint lodged at Highgrounds police station, where the investigation has been initiated against various police officers and the candidates for irregularities conducted during PSI examinations in 2021-22.

The police recruitment cell had called for filling 545 vacancies of PSIs and a provisional list of selected candidates was published. After the list was published, allegations of cheating and malpractices surfaced.

During the ED investigation, it was revealed that the ADGP Amrit Paul, who was in charge of the recruitments, played a pivotal role in the conspiracy by facilitating unauthorised access to the strong room where the OMR answer sheets were kept. He handed over the strong room keys to DySP Shanth Kumar, allowing accomplies including Sridhar H to tamper the OMR sheets of undeserving candidates to ensure their selection, the ED officials said in a statement.

According to ED officials, the accused had collected bribes ranging from ₹ 30 lakh to ₹ 70 lakh per candidate. ``Illicit cash proceeds were layered under the guise of hand loans and the money was utilised for construction of residential properties,'' the ED officials stated.