The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday said it has arrested 13 people in connection with a nursing scam in Madhya Pradesh, including two of its own inspectors who were caught taking bribes.

The agency began investigating the alleged scam on orders from the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2022, reported PTI.

The High Court issued directions to the agency in response to petitions alleging that some nursing colleges in the state were functioning merely as dispensaries without adequate infrastructure. The Central Bureau of Investigation found that some of its inspectors were collecting bribes of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh from such establishments in return for favourable inspection reports. The agency has now restrained such establishments from conducting educational progammes.

Rahul Raj and Sushil Kumar Majoka, two Central Bureau of Investigation inspectors, have been arrested in the case while another two employees of the agency have been booked in the case.

The first information report has named the directors and chairpersons of eight such dispensaries offering nursing courses, in addition to their staff and three touts who collected and delivered bribes to inspectors.

On Saturday, Raj was caught accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from Anil Bhaskaran, chairman of the Malay College of Nursing, and his wife Suma Anil. The agency said that Raj had been giving favourable inspection reports in return for bribes collected through the brokers.

Other directors who have been booked in the case include Ravi Bhadoria of RD Memorial College of Nursing and Pharmacy, Jugal Kishor Sharma of Bhaskar College of Nursing, Ashish Chouhan of Dhar College of Education, Mukesh Giri Goswami of Shubhdeep College of Nursing, Mohit Niroge of Khargone Institute of Medical Science, and Om Goswami and Gaurav Sharma of Pratyansh College of Nursing, according to PTI.

The Central Bureau of Investigation said it had raided 31 locations in connection with the scam across Bhopal, Ratlam, Indore and Jaipur, recovering Rs 2.3 crore in cash, 4 gold bars, 36 digital devices and over 150 incriminating documents.

The High Court has remanded the accused persons to Central Bureau of Investigation custody until May 29.