2 persons duped of Rs 77.6 lakh in medical college admission fraud; 6 booked
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Thane (PTI): Two persons from Chhattisgarh and Bengaluru have been allegedly cheated of Rs 77.61 lakh under the pretext of being provided PG course seats at a medical college in Navi Mumbai under management quota, police said on Sunday.
The Nerul police in Navi Mumbai have registered two cases against six persons in this connection, they said.
A 59-year-old man from Raigarh in Chhattisgarh in a police complaint alleged that the six accused promised to get his daughter a postgraduate seat in General Surgery course at a reputed Nerul-based medical college.
Between May 2022 and December 2023, the accused allegedly took Rs 1.27 crore from him. The man later found that all the communication, including the admission confirmation message, joining letter and college documents, were forged, an official from Nerul police station said.
When the complainant enquired about the college admission, the accused returned Rs 85 lakh, but failed to refund the remaining Rs 42 lakh.
After multiple failed attempts to recover the balance amount, the victim approached the police, the official said.
"The accused even used a forged college letterhead to issue an admission letter and misled the complainant with fabricated official communications. This clearly indicates a planned conspiracy," he said.
Police uncovered another similar case, involving three of the six accused persons, as a 54-year-old man from Panathur, Bengaluru, alleged that he was duped of Rs 35.61 lakh after the accused promised admission to his nephew in the same medical college for the MD anesthesia course, the official said.
"In this second case too, the fraud was committed between May 2022 and December 2023. The accused initially took Rs 50 lakh, but refunded only Rs 4.39 lakh, and then stopped responding to the victim's repeated calls and messages," the official said.
The Bengaluru-based complainant was also provided fake documents, including a 'provisional allotment letter' purportedly from the medical counselling committee, a forged university letter, fee structure, joining letter and receipt, all of which were later found to be forged, he said.
"The documents presented were carefully designed to appear authentic and convince the victims. We are verifying whether more people have fallen prey to the same scam," the official said.
The police on Friday registered two FIRs -- one on the complaint of the Chhattisgarh-based man against six persons and the other on the Bengaluru man's complaint against three of those same six accused under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 465, 467, 468 (forgery), 471 (use of forged documents) and 34 (common intention), the official said.
No arrest has been made so far, he added.
"We are investigating the financial trail and also checking with the institution concerned to determine the extent of the forgery," the official said.
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Bengal: On way to PM's rally, 3 mowed down by train amid dense fog
Kolkata (PTI): Three persons died and three others were injured after being hit by a train amid dense fog on Saturday, while travelling to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally at Taherpur in West Bengal's Nadia district, a senior official said.
The incident occurred between Taherpur and Badkulla railway stations under the Sealdah-Krishnanagar section of Eastern Railway, he said.
Modi, whose helicopter could not land at Taherpur due to dense fog and low visibility, condoled the death of the “BJP workers” in his virtual address from Kolkata airport.
“I have come to know that some BJP workers, while travelling to the rally, lost their lives in a rail accident. My condolences are with the families of those who have lost their loved ones, and I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” Modi said.
The Eastern Railway official told PTI that the incident occurred in the morning when these people, who were travelling by a bus, had stopped the vehicle and walked to the railway tracks to answer nature's call.
"While three persons died on the spot, two others with injuries were admitted to a local hospital," he said.
Another person with minor injuries was released after having been administered first aid, the official said.
The deceased have been identified as Ramprasad Ghosh (74), Shaktipada Sutradhar (55) and Gopinath Das (38).
Meanwhile, Mahua Moitra, Trinamool Congress MP from Krishnanagar constituency in Nadia district, alleged that the BJP ignored the incident and went ahead with the rally.
"Terrible tragedy hushed up at altar of @narendramodi ego. @BJP4India supporters brought from far Murshidabad for PM rally in Ranaghat today," she said in a post on X.
"4 went to answer nature's call and were killed by 31814 down local train near Taherpur. BJP ignored, blacked out & went ahead with rally," Moitra claimed.
Reacting to her remarks, the West Bengal BJP, in a post on X, asserted that the TMC "has always been adept at milking tragedies", and was being "disrespectful to the unfortunate victims of this tragedy".
The TMC alleged that BJP leaders have not shown "neither concern nor compassion" over the mishap.
"The loss of three lives in Taherpur should have united everyone in grief. But @BJP4India leaders showed neither concern nor compassion," it said in another post on X.
"At this painful moment, Smt @MamataOfficial and Shri @abhishekaitc put humanity above party lines and stood beside the families of the deceased," the party said.
TMC’s on-ground leaders promptly reached out to the grieving family members, ensuring them of help and assistance, it said.
"While Delhi’s rulers chase Bengal with arrogance, our leadership chose empathy. This is the difference between politics of power and politics of people!" the TMC added.
