ED raids CSI Church HQ in Kerala over corruption allegations

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday (July 25) carried out raids at the institutions of the Church of South India (CSI) over corruption allegations at its Karakonam medical college.

The ED raided the headquarters of the CSI South Kerala diocese which houses the office of Bishop A Dharmaraj Rasalam. The raid was in connection with a case registered for allegedly collecting huge amounts of money from students, promising them a medical seat at the Dr Somervell Memorial CSI Medical College in Karakonam, which is run by the church.

Also Read: ED raids 18 locations linked to Jharkhand CM’s aide in toll plaza tenders case

Meanwhile, Fr. C R Godwin, the Director of the Christian Education Board told the media that the Crime Branch had already conducted an enquiry in the matter.

“As I said earlier, 25 people have filed cases against the medical college regarding capitation and the case was in the court. ED wants to know more about the case. We are happy to clarify, they are questioning the Bishop and he is happy to give answers to their questions. They reached at 6.30 am and started the raid. They did not inform us earlier,” Godwin said. The raid is still going on.

Also Read: Enforcement Directorate raids up 26 times since 2014: Govt data

Earlier, in February, the High Court had quashed a report of the Crime Branch giving the church authorities a clean chit in the Karakonam case.

(With inputs from agencies)