Chennai: Vital tip off on capitation money being stashed at different secret spots led the income tax investigators to make the record seizure of '85 crore liquid cash from two medical colleges belonging to medical colleges belonging to Sri Balaji Educational and Charitable Public Trust in Puducherry.
Senior income tax sources said the managements of Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute in Puducherry and Sri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute in Kancheepuram had been in the habit of collecting huge amount every year selling seats for various professional courses.
But this year they decided to keep a large portion of these funds ‘in reserve’ at secret places to be able to return the money collected from candidates not getting qualified under Neet (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test).
In the earlier years, the management was able to straight away use the money thus collected towards acquiring assets such as immovable properties. Under Neet it would not be enough for a candidate to merely take the test but also to qualify under the available rank system to get admitted to a particular college.
Income tax department sources on Saturday also disclosed that medical colleges belonging to Sri Balaji Educational and Chari table Public Trust from where the investigators recovered '85 crore liquid cash during searches on Friday, could reach at amount of '200 crore for disclosure.
It may be noted that Chennai income tax officials made a history on Friday when they seized Rs 85 crore unaccounted liquid cash during searches in premises of Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute in Puducherry and Sri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute in Tamil Nadu belonging to the trust.
The IT department has also seized gold and property documents and value of those items are yet to be ascertained. Raids were conducted in 40 places including Chennai, Kelambakkam and Puducherry. “The officers had not returned to Chennai office till Saturday evening. Searches and seizures are continuing through Saturday,” a source said.
