Bhubaneswar: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday arrested a professor of the Sambalpur University and nine other top educationists across the country for allegedly involved in bribing the NAAC inspection committee members to secure an A++ accreditation for a top educational institution in Andhra Pradesh.
The CBI also sealed the officials residence of the accused Profesor Bulu Moharana at Jyoti Vihar in Sambalpur.
The other arrested individuals include the chairman and six members of a National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) inspection committee, including a professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), national media reported.
The Central agency also arrested G P Saradhi Varma, the vice-chancellor of Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation (KLEF) in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur, and two other executives from the institution in connection with the corruption case.
Other key figures named in the FIR, but not arrested, include Koneru Satyanarayana, president of KLEF, L Manjunatha Rao, former deputy adviser at NAAC, M Hanumanthappa, professor and director of IQAC-NAAC at Bangalore University, and M S Shyamsundar, a NAAC adviser. .
The arrests were made after a series of operations in which the CBI apprehended several individuals. Among the arrested are the chairman of the inspection committee, Samarendra Nath Saha, who is also the vice-chancellor of Ramchandra Chandravansi University, and committee members Rajeev Sijariya, professor at JNU, D. Gopal, dean at Bharath Institute of Law, Rajesh Singh Pawar, dean at Jagran Lakecity University, Manas Kumar Mishra, director at G L Bajaj Institute of Technology & Management, Gayathri Devaraja, professor at Davangere University, and Bulu Maharana, professor at Sambalpur University, PTI reported.
The CBI’s investigation led to the discovery of alleged bribe payments made to the NAAC team, including cash, gold, mobile phones, and laptops, which were recovered during searches. The CBI conducted searches at 20 locations across India, including Chennai, Bengaluru, Vijayawada, Palamu, Sambalpur, Bhopal, Bilaspur, Gautam Budh Nagar, and New Delhi.
The central probe agency has seized approximately Rs 37 lakh in cash, six Lenovo laptops, one iPhone 16 Pro, and other incriminating items.
