MUMBAI: The special investigation team (SIT) set up by the crime branch to probe medical admission scam has arrested two frauds from Delhi who allegedly duped two MBBS aspirants from the city to the tune of ₹26.5 lakh on the pretext of securing seats for them in city-based medical colleges.
The team brought one of them, Aqeeb Naushad Ahmed, 28, to Mumbai and produced him before a court on Thursday. The court remanded him to police custody till April 3. The other accused, Sandeep Singh Bindiya, has been arrested on Thursday morning and is being brought to the city.
On March 1, the police arrested two masterminds of the MBBS scam, Iftekhar Ahmed and Luv Gupta. Aqeeb and Bindiya both lived in Delhi and were associated with Iftekhar Ahmed and were helping him to dupe MBBS aspirants.
Aqeeb is a native of Bihar and works in IT firms in Delhi. Bindiya also lives in Delhi, he was recruited as an agent by Iftekhar because he speaks fluent Marathi which helps them convince the parents of aspirants, said police inspector Sadanand Yerekar of the SIT.
According to the police, the incident took place in December 2022. Complainant Pravin Sasane, 49, a resident of Kalyan, alleged that his son had cleared NEET exam in 2022 and was trying for his son’s admission in the best medical college. He got a call from one Anand Kumar who asked him to send all documents related to admission on his WhatsApp and called him to meet in St George hospital on December 23, 2022.
When he went to meet him at St George’s Hospital, the accused demanded ₹15 lakh and took ₹6.5 lakh in cash as a donation and gave a form claiming that it was an admission form, the officer added.
Employing similar modus, the accused also duped a Pune-based student and took ₹20 lakh from his parents. Both the students later approached MRA Marg police and registered in December 2022.
The SIT was formed by the Mumbai crime branch in the first week of February after police found there were a total of seven cases registered at JJ Marg and MRA Marg, Agripada and Sion police stations and the gang had duped many medical aspirants. The gang allegedly accessed the contact list of the students who had cleared NEET and then lured their parents to pay them under the guise of securing seats for their children.