Fraudsters con man of Rs 11 L for medical seat, hold fake lectures; held

In his statement to police, the complainant stated that he was familiar with one of the accused through whom he met the mastermind of the case in a restaurant in Chembur on January 19, 2021.

“I was told that it will take Rs 12.3 lakh for a seat in Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and Hospital. On January 21, 2021, I gave them Rs 5 lakh and my daughter’s documents for admission,” said the complainant in his statement to police. On January 22, the complainant allegedly gave another Rs 3.4 lakh in two instalments.

In the following days, the man got a call from a person who identified himself as Shishir Singh, claiming he was a project manager in a reputed college. Singh promised to help secure a seat for his daughter through management quota, and he started asking for more money.

The complainant’s daughter began receiving emails supposedly from Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and Hospital and was even given a fake college ID card and other documents.

“The group of accused reached out to the complainant repeatedly and took money by threatening to cancel his daughter’s admission,” said a police officer adding, “When the 52-year-old asked about the lectures, the accused claimed that due to Covid-19, physical lectures were not happening.”

In March and April 2021, they forced the complainant to pay more money under the pretext of paying for the admission.

“In the last week of April, the frauds even conducted a fake lecture online in which two of them even posed as fellow students to win the confidence of the complainant and subsequently demanded more money,” said an officer.

However, the incident came to light after one such fake lecture, when the complainant’s daughter was asked to come to college for practicals and was not let into the college as her college identification and registration were not valid. The complainant then contacted them and asked them to return the money.

The fraudsters initially threatened to cancel the admission but later admitted to duping him and promised to return his money.

“They kept postponing it after which he reported the matter to police and registered a case,” said an officer.