After receiving the money, the accused switched off their mobile phones, said police (Representational)
A 33-year-old man was arrested for allegedly cheating a schoolteacher on the pretext of getting his son admitted to a government medical college, police said on Monday.
The accused has been identified as Vikas Paras from Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur. He holds a PhD degree from an Uttarakhand-based university. He got several fake documents and identity cards made in the name of Ashish Jaiswal, a resident of Kolkata, they said.
Paras was arrested in connection with a complaint lodged by a government school teacher, Inder Kumar Roy, who had contacted the accused to get his son admitted to a medical college, the police said.
According to the complainant, his son Shivam Roy could not get admission in MBBS due to his low score in NEET 2019-2020. In December 2020, he came in contact with Jaiswal, Rohan Singh and Rohit who promised to get his son admitted to Delhi's Maulana Azad Medical College through government nominee quota.
The accused demanded Rs 20 lakh from the complainant as a donation for the seat. To convince Roy and gain his trust, they also made calls to him and his son from landline numbers of Maulana Azad Medical College and Medical Council of India, a senior police official said.
The accused also sent emails to Mr Roy and his son from the official email id of the Medical Council of India, he said.
Later, Mr Roy transferred Rs 20 lakh to Jaiswal's bank account. However, after receiving the money, the accused switched off their mobile phones and went underground, he added.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo said it emerged during the investigation that the accused persons made calls from the landline numbers of Maulana Azad Medical College and Medical Council of India through spoofing. Emails were also generated using the same means.
With the help of technical surveillance and secret sources, Paras was arrested from the Sheikh Sarai area, he said.
Elaborating the modus operandi of the accused, Deo said in 2020, Paras "purchased" a bank account from a person named Ashish Jaiswal, a resident of Kolkata. He got Jaiswal's signed cheque book, PAN card, Aadhaar card and ATM card. The accused then prepared a fake Aadhaar card after editing Jaiswal's original.
Using Jaiswal's fake Aadhaar card and original PAN card and chequebook, Paras opened another account in ICICI Bank which he used for cheating people.
"He (Paras) and his associate Farooqi met with the complainant at Café Coffee Day in Chanakyapuri as Rohan Singh and Rohit. His another associate Lav Gupta managed the calls and mails through spoofing," the DCP said.
Further investigation is underway to trace and nab Paras' associates, he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)