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Admission racket in medical colleges busted, one held in Delhi
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
Delhi Police on Wednesday said they had arrested a 35-year-old man who allegedly ran an admission racket through fake call centres and cheated at least 10 medical aspirants by assuring seats in medical colleges.
The fraudster, identified as Ram Vinay Bhushan, was arrested on Monday by a team of Rajouri Garden police station from Netaji Subhash Place, where he was operating one of the call centres, senior officials privy to the operation said.
“Bhushan’s two associates – Ajay Jiswal and Chandan – are absconding. It was an interstate syndicate,” said one of the officers.
The arrest of Bhushan came following investigation into a cheating case filed by Anwar Hussain, who was duped of R30 lakh in the name of securing a seat for his daughter in a medical college in Lucknow, the officer said.
According to the complainant, Bhushan had taken him to the college and introduced him to Ajay Jaiswal, who allegedly impersonated as an officer-bearer. The two assured a seat for the complainant’s daughter and made him pay R10 lakh as token money.
“The fraudsters tricked Hussain into paying R20 lakh more after telling him that his daughter’s name was there in the college’s admission list. Hussain found himself cheated when he enquired with the college administration and learnt about the fraud. When he confronted Bhushan, he threatened him and switched off his cellphone,” the officer said.
A case was registered under sections of cheating, criminal intimidation and other Indian Penal Code sections on Hussain’s complaint. Bhushan was arrested through electronic surveillance.
During interrogation, another officer said, Bhushan disclosed that he, along with his two associates, runs call centres in various parts of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. They used to purchase data of medical aspirants and qualified National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) candidates from online portals.
“Women working in these call centres called the aspirants frequently for admission in nationwide medical colleges. They would ask for around Rs 30-40 lakh per candidate,” the officer cited above said.
Investigators said the racketeers fixed up a meeting with the aspirants and took an initial amount for registration, admission and hostel facilities. They took candidates to the college concerned where one of their associates pretended to be a representative of a college and got the money deposited. Later, they switched off their call phones and also changed the location of their call centres, the official said.
A mobile phone and Rs 5 lakh has been refunded to the complainant so far, the police said, adding that further investigation is underway.
