Miscreants who pretended to be medical college trustees, relative of political leader booked for Rs 45 lakh MBBS admission Fraud

Mumbai: Three accused including a woman pretending to be trustees of SSPM Medical College and Lifetime Hospital, Sindhudurg and another accused claiming to be the relative of a top BJP leader from Sindhudurg have been booked in a cheating case after an Andheri-based widow lost Rs 45 lakh in 2021. They promised to secure her daughter’s admission into a reputed medical college in Sindhudurg under the management quota.

The accused include Satpute, an old acquaintance of the complainant, along with Nitesh Pawar, Rakesh Gawde, and a man identified as Sawant Kaka. The group presented themselves as influential and cheated the woman.

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The complainant, a medical assistant at a private hospital, was seeking admission to an MBBS program for her daughter, who had scored 315 in the NEET 2020 exam and was pursuing a BHMS course in Bangalore, as per Indian Express news report.

The incident dates back to March 2021 when the complainant met Satpute who assured admission for her daughter. Satpute claimed she could help secure admission through her connections. She introduced the complainant to Nitesh Pawar and Rakesh Gawde, who posed as trustees of SSPM Medical College and Lifetime Hospital in a meeting. The meeting was arranged at a hotel in Versova on March 14, 2021.

"Despite the payment, the admission was “put on hold” due to lockdown and they said the admission fee has been increased to Rs 45 lakh due to a change of rules. Later, Satpute and Nitesh Pawar introduced me to Sawant Kaka, who claimed himself to be a close relative of a top BJP leader from Sindhudurg," the woman told the police.

To make the scam believable, the group showed a merit list to the complainant and told her that her daughter’s admission had been done. The complainant who paid the first half at the meeting, later arranged the rest of the money and paid them Rs 45 lakh through electronic bank transactions and in cash in the presence of two witnesses.

They told her that the college would open in December 2021. However, when the joining letter didn’t arrive, she contacted the medical college directly. To her shock, the college informed her that no admission was granted to her daughter. When she contacted the group to enquire about the matter, their mobile phones were switched off. Therefore, they were unreachable.

After waiting for years in the hope of recovering her money, the woman ultimately approached the police. A case has been registered against the four accused under sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. An investigation regarding the matter is underway.

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