ED uncovers racket in NRI quota medical admissions, seizes assets
Enforcement Directorate (ED) has unearthed a large-scale racket involving fake documents to secure medical college admissions under the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) quota, seizing assets worth more than 1.2 billion rupees ($148 million) from private institutions and individuals, the agency said. The probe, carried out with help from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Indian embassies abroad, found that about 18,000 MBBS seats in private colleges were granted to students who submitted forged papers, including fabricated NRI certificates and family trees. Investigators said admission agents colluded with colleges to recycle the same set of fraudulent documents for multiple candidates. Some genuine NRI applicants also allegedly accepted payments to allow their identities to be misused. Raids at several campuses led to the recovery of fake certificates and notarised stamps purportedly from U.S.-based officials. Regulations mandate that tuition fees under the NRI quota must be paid by an overseas relative, but the ED said most payments came from other sources. Despite receiving evidence from the MEA, authorities in West Bengal and Odisha failed to act against certain private colleges, the agency said. It recently provisionally attached a fixed deposit of 642 million rupees belonging to a West Bengal institution. Indian consulates worldwide flagged that many of the NRI sponsor certificates were “not genuine,” raising questions over the integrity of the admissions system. The ED said the case highlights systemic loopholes, collusion between agents and institutions, and weak oversight that allowed the racket to thrive, undermining the NRI quota’s original aim of bringing in foreign exchange.
Actor and BJP Politician Joy Banerjee Dies at 61
Popular Bengali actor and politician Joy Banerjee has died at the age of 61 in Kolkata. Banerjee passed away on Monday morning at 11:30am at a private hospital off the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, where he had been undergoing treatment for severe respiratory illness. Hospital sources confirmed he had been battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and was placed on ventilation on 17 August, following his admission two days earlier. Born in 1963, Banerjee was drawn to cinema from an early age. He made his acting debut opposite actress Debashree Roy, but it was filmmaker Anjan Choudhury’s 1990s hit Hirak Jayanti that established him as a household name. His on-screen pairing with actress Chumki Choudhury became immensely popular with audiences, though their off-screen relationship eventually ended. Banerjee’s personal life often made headlines. He first married actress and Trinamool Congress councillor Ananya Banerjee, but the relationship did not last. Later, he married Ankita Banerjee, who survives him, along with his mother. By the late 1990s, Banerjee gradually stepped away from cinema and turned to politics. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and contested the Lok Sabha elections from Birbhum in 2014 and Uluberia in 2019, though he was unsuccessful in both attempts. He rose to become a member of the BJP’s state committee in West Bengal, where his star power was seen as an asset during campaigns. However, in November 2021, Banerjee publicly announced that he was stepping away from active politics and would no longer represent the BJP. Despite his departure from both cinema and frontline politics in recent years, Banerjee remained a recognisable public figure in Bengal, remembered as much for his screen charisma as for his controversial political journey. News of his death has sparked tributes from both the Bengali film fraternity and political colleagues, many recalling his contributions to the silver screen and his attempt to bridge cinema and public service. Banerjee is survived by his wife, Ankita Banerjee, and his mother.
India appoints ex-CRPF chief Anish Dayal Singh as deputy to NSA Doval
India has appointed former paramilitary chief Anish Dayal Singh as a deputy to National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, with responsibility for domestic security, government sources told Press on Monday. Singh, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1988 Manipur cadre, has been named Assistant National Security Adviser (ANSA). He previously headed the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and served nearly three decades in the Intelligence Bureau (IB). He retired in December 2023. Officials said Singh will oversee issues related to Jammu and Kashmir, counter-insurgency operations against Maoist rebels, and internal security in India’s northeast. His appointment adds to the team of two existing assistant NSAs – retired IPS officer T.V. Ravichandran and former diplomat Abhay Kapoor – while former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Rajinder Khanna serves as Additional NSA. During his tenure as CRPF chief, Singh expanded counter-Maoist operations, creating four new battalions and over three dozen forward operating bases in insurgency-hit regions. His appointment comes as the government pushes to eradicate Maoist militancy by March 2026, a target set by Home Minister Amit Shah. According to official data presented in parliament, districts affected by Maoist insurgency have fallen from 126 in 2013 to just 18 in April 2025. The government has not issued a formal statement on Singh’s new role, but analysts say his experience in counter-insurgency and intelligence makes the appointment significant at a time when New Delhi is focusing on domestic security challenges.
ED arrests West Bengal lawmaker in teachers’ recruitment scam probe
India’s financial crime-fighting agency on Monday arrested a state legislator from West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress party in connection with a teachers’ recruitment corruption case, officials said. Jiban Krishna Saha, a lawmaker from Burwan constituency in Murshidabad district, was detained after hours of questioning for allegedly refusing to cooperate with investigators, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said. He is expected to be brought to Kolkata later in the day and produced before a court. ED officers, backed by federal paramilitary forces, raided Saha’s home early on Monday. As officers closed in, Saha attempted to flee by scaling a boundary wall but was caught in a nearby field, officials said. Investigators also recovered two mobile phones that Saha allegedly threw into a pond during the raid. Saha had previously been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April 2023 during raids linked to the same case. He was later granted bail by the Supreme Court. On both occasions, he allegedly tried to destroy evidence by discarding mobile phones in water. The latest raids also extended to Saha’s in-laws’ residence in Raghunathganj, Murshidabad, and to the home of a relative, Maya Saha, a municipal councillor in Birbhum district. Investigators also searched the residence of a relative of Prosanna Roy, an aide to former state education minister Partha Chatterjee, who is already facing trial in the teachers’ recruitment scam. The case centres on allegations that large sums of money were collected from job seekers in exchange for teaching posts in state-run schools. Several Trinamool leaders, including former education minister Chatterjee, have been arrested in connection with the scandal. The Trinamool Congress has repeatedly accused federal agencies of being used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to target its leaders ahead of state and national elections.
