Maha: Three booked for duping MBBS aspirant of Rs 21 lakh

Police in Maharashtra’s Thane city have registered a case against three persons for allegedly cheating a woman aspiring medical student of more than Rs 21 lakh, an official said on Thursday.

A complaint in this connection was lodged by the victim’s father, a welder, at the Kapurbawdi police station on Wednesday, he said.

“The victim, who has cleared her Class 12 exam with 95 per cent marks, aspired to pursue an MBBS course. She came across a career consultancy services firm, which had its office at Kapurbawdi here. When the victim approached the firm, its operators promised to arrange for her admission for which they quoted certain fees,” an official said.

They assured that she would get admission to a Bengaluru-based medical institute. On that promise, they demanded money from her on several occasions with the collective amount of Rs 21,41,800, he said.

They asked the victim and her parents to visit Bengaluru and took them to the medical institute last month. They also handed over an “admission letter”, the official said.

“After getting the letter, the victim and her family returned to Thane. On December 15, one of their acquaintances told the family that some MBBS aspirants had been cheated by the trio on the false promise of admission. When the victim enquired with the medical college about it, the authorities there informed her that no such admission letter had been issued by the institute,” he said.

When the victim’s family tried to contact the accused, they found that their phones were switched off and that they had shut their office, he said.

The family members then realised that they had been cheated, following which the victim’s father lodged a complaint, police said.

The accused trio was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 465 (forgery) and others.