04 October,2023 09:30 PM IST | Mumbai | Anurag Kamble
Police seized Rs 20 lakhs from the arrested accused
The Raigad Police arrested four persons for allegedly duping a Kolhapur-based man of Rs 32.50 lakh on the pretext of admitting his daughter to an MBBS course. The accused persons after taking the cash were rushing to West Bengal. Four of the seven gang members were arrested before they could reach the eastern state. Cops have recovered Rs 20 Lakh cash from the accused.
Abhijeet Wanire, a 52-year-old Kolhapur resident, received a call in August 2023, asking whether he needed help in getting an MBBS seat for his daughter. The person identified himself as Pankaj Mehta, a member of an MBBS admission consultancy. He told Wanire he could get him admission to colleges based in West Bengal, Chennai or Bengaluru. Wanire asked whether he could arrange a seat in a medical college in Maharashtra to which Mehta replied negatively and hung up.
On September 20, Mehta called Wanire and said he got one MBBS seat at Alibaug Medical College for Rs 35 lakh. After negotiations, the fraudster settled for Rs32.50 lakh. He had asked the complainant to bring his daughter, and her documents with him to Alibaug Civil Hospital on September 27.
When Wanire's daughter and brother-in-law reached the location on the set date, they met with Mehta's alleged associate Anil Mandal. Mehta had claimed to be busy.
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"Mandal was accompanied by one more person; he was introduced as Dr Narayan Kharmode. They all went to the second floor of the hospital where a person met them and handed over a form with the girl's photo" said an official from Raigad police. "The man asked Wanire to fill the form and sign and wait till approval from Dean confirming admission" he added.
The Kolhapur man was assured the admission would be confirmed by 5:30 pm. After Dr Kharmode excused himself, the Wanire family and Mandal headed to the beach. An hour later, Mandal too excused himself saying he would check on the status of the girl's admission. When he did not return after 30 minutes and was unreachable, they contacted Mehta. When his phone too was switched off, they suspected something was fishy and headed to the Alibaug police station to file a complaint.
"As soon as we got the information an offence we registered against the trio under IPC section 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention)" said Somnath Gharge, Superintendent of Raigad police. "Crime Branch Unit led by inspector Balasaheb Khade was also informed to carry out parallel investigations" he added.
The crime branch took the help of the Cyber Unit who passed on information that, the accused were moving towards West Bengal via Hyderabad. A team led by sub-inspector Vishal Shirke and four constables was dispatched immediately. "Our teams reached well before them and nabbed 4 accused before they reached their hometown at Medinipur, West Bengal," said the official.
The accused persons nabbed by cops were identified as Sourabh Somya Das (43), Somen Sudhanshu Manna (33), Somesh Bira (27), and Abhishek Kumar Razzak (22) on October 3. While the other 3 accused are still absconding. Cops recovered Rs 20 Lakh cash, a car and a mobile phone from the accused.
"The accused Somen Manna had called Wanire posing as Pankaj Mehta and counselled him to get admission. They had googled about the names of students who are on the waiting list at medical colleges and managed to get their contact numbers" said SP Gharge. "They targeted parents whose daughter is seeking admission and had made several calls and managed to trap the man from Kolhapur" he added.
