Police search 2 edu institutes linked to BJP leaders in city

Ranchi: Ranchi police conducted extensive searches at two educational institutions - Sarla Birla University (SBU) and Usha Martin University - in Namkum on Friday as part of their pre-election vigilance operations. The five-hour search yielded no recoveries.SBU, run by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Pradeep Verma, and Usha Martin University, operated by Himadri group, currently have thousands of students.BJP state spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo condemned the raids, accusing the state govt of targeting private educational institutions. "Police teams entered SBU without a search warrant, claiming they had verbal orders from the SSP. They even entered University director general professor Gopal Pathak's premises without authorization and misbehaved with security personnel and staff," Shahdeo alleged.He said certain officers have become state govt tools, noting that the raids occurred just two weeks after a JMM spokesman's comments about these institutions.These searches follow recent police operations across educational institutions in Ranchi. On October 30, authorities seized Rs 1.14 crore during a raid at GD Goenka School. On November 5, police searched YBN University in Namkum and other locations, recovering Rs 67.62 lakh from a premise in Chuita."Based on advance information, the raids were conducted but nothing was found," said DGPAjay Kumar Singh. A senior district level police officer, unwilling to be quoted, said a flying squad team formed in view of state assembly elections, conducted the searches with the assistance of police, adding nothing was seized. An Usha Martin official said that the raiding team gave a certificate that nothing illegal was found.