BENGALURU: A 51-year-old woman filed a complaint with Ashoknagar police station against three persons, alleging that they cheated her of Rs 4 lakh on the pretext of getting a medical seat for her daughter in a city college.
This is the second such complaint being filed this week with Ashoknagar police. On January 19, a homemaker from Mysuru filed a complaint saying three suspects, including two women, duped her of Rs 10.5 lakh on the pretext of getting a medical seat for her son. Police suspect it is the same gang.
Complainant Poornima of Jayanagar said on December 21 last year, a woman identifying herself as Pratiskha called her, saying they run a consultancy to help students get medical seats in colleges in the city. Poornima and her husband Rabindra Achari visited the suspects’ office in Ashoknagar the same day.
At the office, Pratiksha introduced them to her colleagues Bharat and Kishore. During the conversation, the suspect trio promised the couple that they would get their daughter a medical seat in a city college for Rs 81 lakh.
“You can pay them in different instalments for over four years. But for registration and other formalities, you need to pay an advance of Rs 4 lakh,” the three told the couple.
Accordingly, the couple gave them Rs 4 lakh — Rs 2 lakh cash transferred to their account and a cheque for Rs 2 lakh. The trio said they would get a medical seat for their daughter in a college near City Market.
“After taking our details, they asked us call them on January 18. I called them on January 18 and the mobile phone was switched off. We went to their office, which was vacated. They have cheated us,” said the complainant.
A senior police officer said preliminary investigation revealed the miscreants had taken the office on rent for a couple of months. “The building owners said the suspects approached them asking for the office space for a couple of months. They were told that academic work would be taken up during the short period. In both the cases, the accused had paid advance rent for two months as well as a deposit. While vacating, they took back the deposit money,” he said.
MN Anuchet, DCP central, said the gang involved in the two cases are the same. “They get details of students by visiting websites. We have definite clues on them and are tracking them down,” he added.