Gang member of inter-state medical admission racket arrested

Raipur, Mar 21: Pandri police, in association of Raipur Police Cyber Cell, on Sunday brought to the city a gang member of an inter-state medical admission racket after arresting him from Patna in Bihar recently. The arrested fraud is now being interrogated further about the whereabouts of his other two accomplices.
According to police, complainant Babita Sanjay Sahu had lodged a complaint in Pandri police station last month stating that three frauds have reportedly duped her of Rs 8 lakh on pretext of admission to her daughter in any private medical college of her choice. Actually the victim’s daughter had already cleared the NEET in 2020 but was given admission in a college in Pudduchery whereas she wanted admission within the state itself, preferably Raipur.
While she was still pondering where to take up the admission or try something else. Along with that she deposited the fees of Rs 2 lakh in the website of MCC for taking up the counseling for admission in medical college. Prior to the declaration of NEET result on October 16, 2020, the complainant’s daughter had received a call on her cell phone on September 13, 2020, wherein the caller identified himself as Surendra Kumar Kamat and had offered her admission under payment quota in any private medical college of her choice.
After the second round of counseling, the complainant’s daughter was given admission in a medical college in Karnataka. Since this offer was also not to her choice, the complainant’s daughter decided to take up the offer Surendra Kumar Kamat who had assured her of a sure admission in RIMS at Raipur.
Following couple of telephonic conversation, the complainant deposited Rs 1 lakh in the bank account sent by Kamat. Hereafter, on November 20, 2020, Kamat along with two others identified as Vidyanand Verma and Shah came to Raipur and met the complainant at her residence in Aviva Garden. In this meeting, the three frauds kept assuring her that admission to her daughter in RIMS is a surety and very soon she will be sent the admission call letter. Saying so, they collected Rs 7 lakh in cash from the complainant and went away. However the complainant’s daughter was not sent any admission call letter, nor the accused were available over telephone.
Registering an offence under Section 420, 34 IPC Pandri police launched an investigation into the fraud in association of Raipur Police Cyber Cell. Minute investigation of all available documents, bank account into which Rs 1 lakh was initially transferred and the locations of the calls made to the complainant’s daughter, led police to Patna in Bihar from where they succeeded in arresting Vidyanand Verma. The arrested fraud has since confessed being party with Surendra Kamat and Vishwajeet Shah in duping several aspirants of admission in medical colleges across the country. He further told police that they had been collecting phone numbers of NEET applicants through coaching centres and other online means.