A 51-year-old Assistant Commandant of a para military force was duped by some men who took ₹9.2 lakh after promising a medical seat for his son.
He had come to Bengaluru from his home town in Siliguri, West Bengal, and handed over the money on Tuesday. He filed a complaint with the Cubbon Park police.
In his complaint, Sukhendu Mohanta said that his son Shubham had appeared for the NEET. In the first week of August, he received a phone call from a person identifying himself as Subhashith Pati and claiming to be an officer from the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA). Pati told Sukhendu that Shubham had bagged a seat in Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, and asked to meet him on August 9 to complete the formalities.
Sukhendu came to Bengaluru and met Pati, who asked him to make an initial payment of ₹20,000 as ‘verification fee’. Pati later asked ₹5 lakh towards development fee and ₹4 lakh as the first instalment of the admission fee. Sukhendu transferred the money to Pati between August 13 and August 27.
After confirming receipt of the money, Pati told Sukhendu to come to the college on Tuesday to complete the admission formalities. Sukhendu went to the college and called Pati, but his mobile phone was switched off.
Later, Sukhendu filed a complaint with the Cubbon Park police.
The police are trying to track down Pati and his associate Soumay Kant Mohanty through the mobile phone numbers provided to them by the complainant.
Student cheated
In another case, Aakashneel Dalal, an 18-year-old from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, who had appeared for the NEET exam, was approached by a man who took ₹11.6 lakh after promising a seat in Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI).
In his complaint, Aakashneel told the police that he got a call from the accused who introduced himself as Manoj Das from the KEA. He informed that Aakashneel has a poor score in NEET but he could arrange a medical seat for him.
As per the deal, Aakashneel met him in Cuttack in Odisha on August 17 and paid ₹3.2 lakh for booking the seat. Das later told Aakashneel to meet him in Bengaluru. When Aakashneel, along with his father, met Das in a coffee shop on Brigade Road, they were introduced to his associates as officials of the KEA and took ₹11.6 lakh promising to get a seat in BMCRI.
The accused told them to go back to their hometown and go to the college on August 30 for admission. The cheating came to light when Aakashneel and his father went to the college.
Aakashneel filed a complaint with the Cubbon Park police on Friday.