Seat scam accused held for cheating another aspirant

MEDICAL ADMISSIONS

Seat scam accused held for cheating another aspirant

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:  15.12.2020

Investigations into the medical college admission racket, in which money was collected by an education consultancy firm from unsuspecting parents seeking seats for their wards, revealed that the main accused had evaded arrest earlier by getting anticipatory bail.

The accused, 29-year-old Shahe Abrahar of Overseas Education Research Foundation on Rest House Road in central business district, had come under police radar in February 2019 when he was  accused of cheating a medical seat aspirant of Rs 1.7 lakh. He is currently in police custody for duping a 62-yearold man of Rs 10 lakh.

In the 2019 case registered by Cubbon Park police, the FIR identified the suspects as Vijay Sampagilam, Abrahar and the latter’s father Mohammed Ibrahim. While Vijay and Ibrahim were nabbed, Abrahar had managed to get anticipatory bail. However, police are yet to submit a chargesheet in the case.

Though chargesheet has to be filed within 90 days of registering the case, Cubbon Park police had sought more time from the court. Now with Abrahar in custody, police said they will file chargesheets in both the cases.

Cops arrested Abrahar after 62-year-old Vinak HS, a resident of HSR Layout, filed a cheating complaint on October 10. The complainant alleged that Abrahar had contacted him over phone, saying he could get a medical seat for his daughter in a private college in Shivamogga.

“Saying he will get a government seat which would cost Rs 2 lakh per year, Abrahar took Rs 10 lakh from me. But my daughter was allotted a seat that cost Rs 10 lakh fee per year,” Vinay stated in his complainant.

‘Fraudster network’

“Each year, over half a dozen cases of cheating related to seats in medical and engineering colleges are reported in the city. There is an established network of such miscreants. First, they download names and other details of candidates seeking seats at colleges located in and around Bengaluru. Then, they start calling the candidates, offering a seat for payment. During the conversation, these fraudsters claim they have solid contacts in college managements and can easily get the seats, provided candidates shell out money,” a senior police officer explained.

In September 2019, Central Crime Branch sleuths arrested 11 people on charges of cheating medical and engineering seat aspirants of money. Probe had revealed some of the accused were from the city, while a majority of them were from Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. Two of the prime accused were running a job consultancy in Jayanagar, which they had opened a few months ago. “The consultancy office was set up just to collect money from the victims. The accused never did job-related work there,” an investigator said.

Abrahar had come under police radar in February 2019 when he was accused of cheating a medical seat aspirant of Rs 1.7 lakh. However, he managed to get anticipatory bail. He is now in custody for duping a 62-year-old man, who claims Abrahar contacted him over phone