New Delhi: Fake MBBS admission racket busted, PhD holder held for duping aspirants

New Delhi: The kingpin of a gang has been arrested by the Crime Branch for allegedly cheating medical aspirants of lakhs of rupees by promising them admission in government medical colleges, informed the police. 

The complaint was filed by a government school teacher — Inder Kumar Roy (53) — a resident of Delhi at the crime branch police station on May 30, who alleged that he was cheated of Rs 20 lakh by a fraudster who promised admission of his son at a government medical college, said the Deputy commissioner of police (crime branch) Rajesh Deo. 

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Deo said, "Roy's son Shivam Roy (18), appeared for the NEET Examination 2019-2020, but he was unable to get admission due to his low marks. In December 2020, he came in contact with Vikas Paras alias Ashish Jaiswal alias Rohit, Farooqi alias Rohan Singh (goes by the first name) — aged 33 and 30, who assured him to get his son admitted to Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), Delhi, on government nominee quota, and asked to pay ₹20 lakh as donation fee." He added that the accused called the complainant and his son on phone from the landline numbers of MAMC and Medical Council of India (MCI) to make them believe. 

Deo added, "The accused also sent emails to the complainant from MCI's official ID. After being sure of their credibility, the complainant transferred ₹20 lakh to Paras' bank account. However, after receiving the money, the accused started to make excuses and kept delaying the admission process. They eventually switched off their cellphones and went underground."

The investigation revealed that the accused made the phone calls through MAMC and MCI's landline numbers and emails by hacking into the system. Deo told HT, "Based on technical surveillance and secret sources, police traced Paras' hideout and apprehended him from the Sheikh Sarai area on June 21. Paras, who has done his Ph.D. in Economics, started duping people on the pretext of admission to MBBS in 2019. He is a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur."

A bank account was created by Paras using a fake Aadhar card, along with a fake name and address to which the victim transferred the money. Deo said, "In 2020, Paras 'purchased' another bank account from an 'alcoholic' — Ashish Jaiswal, a resident of Kolkata. He took possession of the actual Ashish Jaiswal's signed cheque book, ATM card, and Aadhar and PAN cards. He then created a fake Aadhar card in Ashish Jaiswal's name, and put his original photo and fake address on it. He opened the bank account where the victim transferred money with the help of the fake Aadhar card, and original cheque book and PAN card of Ashish Jaiswal, and used that for duping people." Deo added that the Paras and his associates had met the complainant at a coffee house in Delhi's Chanakyapuri to finalize the deal. 

The other accused, Lav Gupta used to manage the phone calls and emails to the victims by hacking into the system of the institutions. DCP Deo said, "We have recovered the alleged Aadhar card, cheque book and PAN card of Ashish Jaiswal used to create the fake bank account and three fake Aadhar cards. A case was registered against Paras under Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) at the crime branch police station, and he was arrested earlier last week. He has been sent to judicial custody, and searches are underway to nab four to five of his aides. "

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