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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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
