CBI files charge sheet against ED, CBI officials in Himachal Pradesh scholarship scam

Chandigarh: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge sheet against four individuals, including its own deputy superintendent of police and an enforcement directorate (ED) assistant director, over an alleged ₹2.5 crore bribe linked to a scholarship scam in Himachal Pradesh.
The charge sheet, filed in a special court on Friday, names ED assistant director Vishaldeep, his brother Vikasdeep, their cousin Neeraj, and CBI DSP Balbir Singh. All four have been charged with corruption.
High-profile arrests
The bribery case stems from a ₹181 crore scholarship scam reported in HP between 2012 and 2017. The CBI began investigating the case in 2019, filing fraud-related charges against 29 educational institutes. A money-laundering inquiry, led by Vishaldeep at ED's Shimla sub-zonal office, followed. Investigators claim that Vikasdeep was first to be arrested, detained at a hotel in Haryana's Jind, with ₹54 lakh cash. Based on his statements, authorities later arrested Neeraj in Bhiwani.
Vishaldeep, who had gone into hiding, was apprehended in Shimla, eventually. During questioning, he reportedly implicated CBI DSP Balbir Singh, alleging that the officer had offered protection to the accused in exchange for a 10% cut of the bribe amount. Following this revelation, the CBI arrested its own officer.
Corruption at multiple levels
The CBI had earlier secured court approval to obtain voice samples of Vishaldeep and Balbir as part of its investigation. Officials claim that operators of private educational institutes accused in the scam were pressured into paying bribes to influence the inquiry. The case highlights deep-rooted corruption in law enforcement agencies, as two senior officials from the ED and CBI now face prosecution in the very scam they were assigned to investigate.