Osmanabad professor duped of Rs16 Lakh in medical admission fraud

PUNE: Five persons, including a woman, were booked on Wednesday for duping an Osmanabad professor of Rs16 lakh between June and August this year promising to secure admission for his son in a medical college in Bengaluru.
Professor Jaiprakash Kolage’s son had applied in various medical colleges after passing the Standard XII examination. He started receiving text messages and phone calls from the suspects for securing the admission of his son in a college of his choice from May.
Kolage had initially ignored the messages and calls of the fraudsters, inducing him to visit their office at Vimannagar.He decided to meet them after he failed to admit his son in a deemed university.
Kolage told TOIover phone, “I don’t know how the fraudsters got my number. I visited their office after I was assured that they would help my son get admission. The fraudsters signed an agreement with me, saying that I will have to pay fees on instalment of Rs16 lakh per year. They charged a commission of Rs3 lakh and promised to repay Rs2.75 lakh if admission was not done.”
He said, “I believed the fraudsters because they were well-behaved and operating from a plush office. I issued them a cheque of Rs2.6 lakh and gave Rs13.6 lakh in cash. They completed the admission formalities and issued me a letter stating that the admission of my son was confirmed. They asked me to visit a college in Bengaluru for completing the formalities on August 16. When Ivisited the college and submitted the documents, the officials there told me that no admission was given to my son.”
He said, “Around 16 parents from Maharashtra, Haryana, Goa, UP, Delhi and other states were also sent back because the same fraudsters issued them fake documents. The frauds closed their office and fled before we could claim refund. After numerous rounds of the Yerawada police station, my complaint was registered.”
Sub-inspector Gurudutt More of the Yerawada police said, “The suspects were running the admission racket from a rented office at Vimannagar. The money collected from Kolage and others were deposited in a bank account of a fraudster in Pune. We are working on clues for arresting them.”