Two booked for cheating Bhiwandi teacher of ₹33 lakh by promising MBBS seat for daughter

A man and a woman in Bhiwandi have been booked for allegedly duping a teacher of ₹33 lakh by promising her daughter an MBBS seat in Mumbai.

Bhiwandi: The police on Thursday booked a man and a woman for allegedly duping a teacher of around ₹33 lakh by promising her daughter an MBBS seat in a reputed medical college in Mumbai.

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The accused, Prerana Banwarilal Sharma, 22, and Kabir Sarkar are both residents of Bhiwandi.

The complainant, Afroz Anwar Qureshi alias Bhabe, 50, a teacher at a Nalasopara-based school who lives with her son and two daughters at Sodagar Mohalla, Bhiwandi, approached the police on Thursday after the accused stopped responding to her calls.

In January 2021, Qureshi met Prerana on the local train when she used to travel to Nalasopara from Bhiwandi Road station, said Qureshi in her FIR.

They became friends, and Sharma introduced herself as a bank employee working in an Andheri branch. She told Qureshi that her uncle was a trustee at a Mumbai-based medical college.

Qureshi’s daughter had secured lower marks than the eligibility mark in the NEET entrance exam. So, Sharma told her that her daughter could still get admission for MBBS for ₹70 lakh through management quota, and she could pay in five installments, said police sources.

In good faith, Qureshi paid one lakh to Sharma for booking her daughter’s seat in the college, said Qureshi.

According to the complainant, in August and September 2021 Qureshi paid one lakh to Sharma. Following this, she gave Sharma the original documents of her daughter for submission to the college for MBBS admission.

When she received a phone call from the college about the submission of admission fees, Qureshi paid the fees on several occasions. In September 2022, Qureshi received an email confirming admission to the college.

In November 2022, Sharma met Qureshi with Kabir introducing him as a clerk employed with the medical college, and demanded the remaining fee amounts. Qureshi paid ₹10.8 lakh in cash to Sharma. A few days later, Sharma gave her an identity card from the college and asked her to go with her daughter to the college, but Sharma did not go with them.

In January 2023, Qureshi, along with her daughter, went to the college and were shocked to hear that Qureshi’s daughter had not been enrolled in the MBBS course nor any Kabir Sarkar or Sharma’s uncle served in the college.

After this, Qureshi called Sharma and narrated the incident. Sharma assured her that she would return the original documents and ₹33 lakh she had paid. Qureshi had paid ₹16.25 lakh through online transactions and ₹16.75 lakh in cash. As Sharma assured her that she would return the money, Qureshi did not immediately approach the police station.

Sharma’s father returned ₹10 lakh to Qureshi in July 2023 and assured her that the rest would be returned shortly. However, later, Sharma, as well as her father, stopped responding to her calls. Qureshi, then approached the police station and lodged a case against them on January 25.

Bharat Kamat, senior police inspector, Narpoli Police Station, said, “We have lodged a case against them under sections 420 (cheating), 406(criminal breach of trust), 465 (Punishment for forgery), and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code. No arrest has been made yet.”