PG seat scam: Udupi doctor duped of Rs 8.5 lakh over promise of MPH seat in UK, 3 held
Udupi: What began as a hope to pursue higher education became a nightmare for a general medicine doctor from Udupi after he reportedly fell victim to an abroad PG admission scam that promised him a seat for a Master of Public Health (MPH) course in the United Kingdom. The doctor reportedly lost Rs 8.5 lakh to a group of fraudsters involved in the scam.
The group initially asked for Rs 18 lakh to secure a seat for him at a prestigious university in the UK. Therefore, they told the doctor to pay an advance of Rs 8.5 lakh. Acting on their instructions, the doctor transferred the money. However, after the payment was made, the fraudsters stopped responding to his calls leading the doctor to realise that he was ultimately scammed.
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The incident came to light recently after the police captured three accused involved in the scam based on the complaint received from the doctor. The police recovered Rs 5,00,000 in cash, an Innova car, and two mobile phones from their possession. The total value of the recovered assets is Rs 9,56,000.
The accused have been identified as 24-year-old Suman S from Shivamogga, 22-year-old Suhan Khan from Moodbidri, and 23-year-old Mohammad Mahaz from Moodbidri.
According to the police, the doctor's dreams of pursuing higher education abroad were soon crushed after he met an accused named Aftab during a stay in Dubai. Aftab, offered to secure an MPH seat to the doctor in the UK for a hefty sum of Rs 18 lakh. He asked for advance payment from the doctor but the doctor had no NRI account in Dubai, reports Daijiworld.
Following this, Aftab introduced him to Suman S, the second accused. Based on Suma's instruction, the doctor travelled to Udupi and met Suman near the MTR Hotel in Udupi. Trusting the accused, the victim transferred Rs 8.5 lakh.
Later, the doctor realised that he was scammed when the fraudsters refused to pick up his calls and cut all connections. He filed a complaint at the Udupi town police station and a case was registered following which an investigation was launched.
The investigation, led by PI Ramachandra Nayak, involved PSI Eranna Shiragumpi, PSI Puneet Kumar, PSI Bharatesh, and team members Chetan Kumar, Basheer, Karthik, Santosh, Shubha, Sushma, and Nethravathi from the Udupi Town Police Station. They were supported by Praveen Kumar, Venkatesh, Dharmappa, Rajesh, Nilesh, Deekshith, and Mayyappa from the CEN police station.
