Noida MBBS Admission Racket: 3 people arrested for duping over 50 MBBS aspirants
Noida: Three people were arrested by the Gautam Buddh Nagar police on Friday in an MBBS seat fraud case in which the fraudsters cheated several students of crores of rupees by promising them admission to reputed government medical colleges.
The fraudsters had set up a call centre in Sector 63 by the name, 'career junction,' from where they got in touch with aspiring medical students through calls and messages. They obtained the data of these students and contacted them via the internet, messages or calls. After calling them for counseling, the accused offered them admission and charged around Rs 15 to 30 lakh per student, said the police officers.
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Out of the four accused in the case, the police have arrested three people identified as Taskeer Ahmed Khan, Hrithik Singh and Vaishali Pal. The fourth person was reportedly the leader of the gang identified as Vijender who is currently absconding. The arrested three worked as human relations managers and admission consultants in the office and dealt with the students directly.
The gang would specifically collect data and target those students who failed or didn’t do well in the NEET entrance exam, reports the Hindustan Times. They are reported to have duped around 50 aspiring medical students
The FIR was filed at the Noida Sector 63 police station by the father of a student after the latter became a victim of the fraud. They were promised admission at a university in Chandigarh for a fee of Rs 25 lakh of which Rs 8 lakh needed to be paid in advance. When the amount was reduced to Rs 3 lakh, the complainant paid the amount to the accused.
The complainants were asked to meet at the college on December 20, 2022, to hand over the remaining amount and take the invitation letter. However, the mobile phone of the accused was found to be switched off a day before the meeting. When the complainants were unable to reach the accused on December 20, they went to their office and found the office in Sector-63 to be vacant, as per a media report in the Indian Express.
Amit Singh, assistant commissioner of police-1, Central Noida said, "We came to know that the gang had formed a fake company and used to contact those students who failed or didn’t do well in the NEET exam. They would provide counselling to the students and take lakhs of rupees to get them admission to government medical colleges. Fake counselling letters were also given to each of the students. We received the first complaint on December 19 and have got at least 25 complaints so far."
Singh further added, "Initially they were duping people on the pretext of getting them admission at private colleges. However, they did not get a good response, after which they started telling students that they can get admissions at government colleges."
Amit Kumar Maan, station house officer of sector 63 police station said, "Once the students went to their respective colleges for which they were given admission letters, they found that these letters were fake. That is when we started getting the complaints. We have formed teams and are conducting raids to nab the others involved."
The scam has been running since September 2022. Singh said, "In September, the gang published advertisements to enroll people for telecalling and other jobs. A month later, they acquired the data of students who failed to crack the NEET exam after the results were declared, and began contacting their potential targets."
"We have received 25 complaints since December 25, after the victims realised that the MBBS admission letters given to them were fake," said the officers. Speaking to the Times of India, SHO Amit Kumar Maan said, "We are trying to figure out the exact amount of money the victims have been cheated of. Our teams are also conducting raids to nab the other members of the gang, including the kingpin."
The accused have been arrested under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. The accused are being interrogated to determine the amount they had duped.
