Bhopal/IBNS: Four Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers probing the Madhya Pradesh nursing scam have allegedly become part of it, media reports said.

Over the weekend, four officers, one of them a Deputy Superintendent, have been arrested for allegedly accepting bribes.

The central agency has filed cases against 23 people in the case.

In August last year, the recognition of 19 nursing colleges was cancelled following allegations that 'ghost' nursing colleges were being run in the state.

The following month, the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered a CBI probe into all 670 nursing colleges registered in the state in 2020-21.

The arrested CBI officers include Deputy Superintendent Ashish Prasad and Inspector Rahul Raj.

According to the FIR, both officers were involved in criminal conspiracy with other members of the inspection team. They had given clearance to various nursing colleges in exchange for bribes, the FIR alleged.

Rahul Raj was in touch with middlemen to share the schedule of CBI inspections, fix and collect bribe amounts, and provide a suitability report.

The bribe money collected by this cartel from each nursing college varied between Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh and was shared later.