Two conmen who swindled students land in police net

BENGALURU: The Cubbon Park police on Sunday arrested two conmen who had swindled students and parents by promising them medical and engineering seats.

The accused had collected crores of rupees from several people in other states after assuring them of giving seats in reputed colleges in Bengaluru.

The arrested are Subhashita Pati and Samarjeet Panda, both hailing from Odisha. Three of their associates Soumyakanta Mohanty, Anil Mukherjee and Manoj Das are absconding.

A senior police officer said several complaints have been filed against the gang with Cubbon Park, Ashok Nagar and High Grounds police station limits since 2017.

A special team was formed after an increase in similar crimes, and three cases were registered within a week.

The investigation revealed that five of the accused had opened a fake academy named ‘Sunrise Education Trust’ at Cuttack in Odisha. By paying money, they had obtained a list of students who appeared for NEET. They selected some of the students and contacted their parents over phone, claiming that seats had been blocked at MS Ramaiah Medical College, MVJ Medical College and Research, Vydehi Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, BR Ambedkar Medical College, BGS Global Institute of Medical Science and BMS Medical College.

They collected money from parents ranging from `10 lakh to `1 crore and then sent them fake certificates to make them believe that they have been allotted a seat.

Police have blocked `8 lakh, which was in the bank accounts of the accused, and seized two laptops and mobile phones.

The accused made calls to the students and parents under various names and used various SIMs.
After the money was deposited into their account, they used to switch off their mobiles. Efforts are on to nab three of the absconding accused, the police officer added.