Bangalore Police uncover scam in medical seats

Mangalore Today / PTI

Bangalore, Oct 3 : A racket in sale of medical and dental seats for sums ranging from Rs 75 lakh to Rs 90 lakh has been busted in Karnataka with the arrest of 11 persons belonging to two gangs, police said today.

The racket came to light following investigations into complaints by medical and dental seats aspirants who were cheated by the gangs after payment of money, they said.

 

City Crime Branch Police on Oct 1 arrested eight persons for allegedly duping several persons promising MBBS seats in prestigious colleges in the city and another three-member gang for cheating dental seat aspirants.

The scam has inter-state ramifications as a majority of those duped hail from other states. Police suspect the role of some college managements and also middlemen in the racket.

Police Commissioner Jyoti Prakash Mirji told reporters here that the modus operandi of the gang was to engage qualified and employed people to write Common Entrance Test (CET) conducted by the state govenment for selection of students to professional courses and that of the COMED-K, a consortium of private medical, dental and engineering colleges.

The proxy students upon getting allotment of medical and dental seats would surrender them on the last date of counselling by the CET or COMED-K and these seats in turn would be sold by the gang as management quota seats for a whopping price ranging from Rs 75 lakh to Rs 90 lakh, he said.

Some of the cheated students complained that they were threatened by the culprits when they demanded return of the money paid by them, Mirji said.

Director of Kempegowda Medical Sciences (KIMS) Dr A Prasad has also complained recently to police about the activities of a gang which has been cheating students.

The police have seized Rs 20.50 lakh cash and demand drafts amounting to Rs 10.25 lakh from the arrested, besides documents pertaining to various colleges.

Mirji said the gang members were believed to have duped several persons and being questioned.

He said M Singham from Tamil Nadu, a complainant, said a three-member gang cheated his relative after taking Rs 18 lakh as advance and a demand draft for Rs 3.25 lakh toward fee from her for a dental seat. The gang later demanded Rs 42 lakh.
Police have requested victims of the gangs to furnish information to them.