MBA seats for money - IT dept raids Welingkar's Director
On Saturday, the Income Tax (I-T) department conducted
a raid on Professor Dr.
Uday Salunkhe, group director at the LN Welingkar Institute of Management
Development and Research, Matunga. I-T officials have sealed eight lockers across
the city.
According to sources, an investigation team headed by Sharat
Chandra Sarangi raided eight premises of Salunkhe in Mumbai and Pune
city, including his residence at Chembur.
An I-T officer said, on condition of anonymity, that the raids were conducted after
the department received several complaints against Salunkhe claiming that he collected
huge capitation fees from students. Sources reveal that officials have found several
documents related to donation and capitation fees that were collected from students.
Interestingly, officials have also taken certain agents into custody who would gather
money directly from students on behalf of Salunkhe. The officials have recorded
Salunkhe's statements.
Records have been recovered during the raid which reveal that
Salunkhe invested money in construction projects in Lonavala and Pune.
A team also raided his Pune office.
Confirming this development, VP Gaur, director general of I-T (Investigation) said,
"The raid is going on. I will be able to share the details on Sunday."
"Actually, we were only searching for cash. We have found eight lockers in the city
and have sealed all of them," said an officer who was part of the raid.
This is not the first time that the institute has come under the scanner. In 2004
and 2008, I-T raids were conducted on the college. The raids revealed that the trust
members had accepted heavy donations from students to grant admission to the Institute.
The management had accepted it as a Rs. 12 lakh
scam but officials revealed that it involved more than a few crores.
After the raids, the institute also came under the Enforcement Directorate (ED)
scanner for NRI admissions. The ED closely scrutinised admissions of Non-Resident
Indian (NRI) students in Welingkar for Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations.
Courtesy: Mid-Day
