E-Paper
Mumbai fake school admissions racket: Second accused arrested
A fortnight after the Khar police busted a fake admissions racket and arrested Mehfuz Shaikh from Bandra, the Santacruz police apprehended one of his accomplices on Friday.
A fortnight after the Khar police busted a fake admissions racket and arrested Mehfuz Shaikh from Bandra, the Santacruz police apprehended one of his accomplices on Friday.
Anand Ghosh, 33, provided Shaikh with bank accounts to deposit money the latter took from parents by promising admissions for their children in institutes of their choice. The police said Ghosh has six bank accounts and was paid 10% every time Shaikh used any of them.
“In our case, we found the duo had targeted parents of a 3-year-old girl from Vile Parle. The complainant had sought admissions for his daughter at a local school in November 2018. A few days later, he received a call from an aide of one of the trustees,” said sub-inspector Sanjay Sarolkar from Santacruz police station.
It was Shaikh who had called the complainant and promised admission for his daughter. He gave the man bank details and asked him to deposit ₹1 lakh. After a month, Shaikh again asked the complainant to deposit ₹40,000. This prompted the man to visit the school in December 2018.
“After meeting the school authorities, the complainant realised that he had been cheated. He then approached us. A probe revealed that Shaikh had made more than 10 transactions using Ghosh’s bank accounts,” Sarolkar said.
The police said Shaikh would converse with school guards and slyly take pictures of the visitor’s book to find possible targets. “A probe will be initiated to find out if any of the guards are part of the racket,” said another police officer.
