Mumbai Crime: 7 people charged for cheating man under pretext of aiding medical admissions

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Chembur cops have booked seven people for allegedly defrauding a man of Rs 11.47 lakh on the pretext of securing a medical seat at the BMC-run Sion hospital through the management quota.

The suspects also took online lectures for the complainant's daughter using various apps. Later, when the man consistently asked the accused about when would the offline lectures starts, the cheaters kept avoiding him which led to the filing of a complaint against them at the police station.

The complainant, Kishor Gaikwad (52), had expressed his desire to enroll his daughter in medical education. A relative informed Gaikwad that he knew an individual who could arrange a medical seat.

In January 2021, Gaikwad met a person identified as Rohan Patra in a hotel. He claimed to know a few people and that could help in getting his daughter admission to medical college through the management quote by paying Rs 12.30 lakh.

Gaikwad paid Rs 5 Lakh as a token amount and on the next day, Patra came and handed him 2 fee receipts with having value of Rs 2.60 lakh and Rs 80,000. After which one person named Shishir Singh called Gaiwkad and told admission of his daughter had been finalised and that he should pay Rs 2 Lakh in an account with the name Shivam Pandey

Later, on February 10, 2021, Gaikwad transferred the money to an account with the name Shivam Pandey. After this Gaikwad received an ID card, a medical kit for dissection and other documents, and an email mentioning confirmation of admission.

"The persons kept on demanding money on the pretext of hostel fees, tab fees, and online class fees, and the father kept paying the money," said a police official from Chembur police station. "Then one woman named Vibha Parashar sent an email and said she would start the online classes as due to COVID restrictions they can't start offline classes. During online classes the victim girl could see two more girls attending the lectures" he added.

Gaikwad kept asking Patra about the offline lectures and practicals, but nobody would respond. Till April 2021, Gaikwad paid Rs 11.30 lakh for admission and other formalities but whenever Gaikwad would visit the Sion Medical College, the persons named Patra or teachers would call him up saying they were not in college. Gaikwad felt he was being cheated and sent an application to Chembur police station.

"Based on the application we did the primary investigation and found it was a racket and a few persons duped the applicant on the pretext of allotting medical seat. We have booked seven persons in connection with the offence who assured admission or who are beneficiaries of the money" said Nagraj Majage, Senior Inspector of Chembur police station.

Seven accused were booked on October 15, under various sections of cheating and forgery. The accused are identified as Shivaji Damdame, Rohan Patra, Shivam Pandey, Shishir Singh, Ramesh Patil, Nilesh Jadhav, and Sakshi Singh. Of these Damdame, Patra, and Shivam were actively involved in defrauding Gaikwad while others received money sent by him in their accounts. No arrests have been made yet.