Odisha gang busted, raked in crores from MBBS aspirants

Police have busted a sophisticated gang that ran an educational trust in Cuttack, Odisha, and cheated gullible parents by promising their children MBBS seats in Bengaluru’s reputable colleges. 

The Cubbon Park police have arrested two members of the gang — Subhashita Pati and Samarjeet Panda — and are hunting for four others — Ilyas, Soumyakanta Mohanty, Anil Mukherjee and Manoj Das. All the suspects are from Odisha. Police believe the gang pocketed Rs 10 lakh to 1 crore from each parent. 

The police action came after several students complained of being cheated. Six cases were registered at the Cubbon Park police station and three at the High Grounds police station. An investigation showed that a single gang was involved. 

Police believe the gang worked like a well-oiled machine. Operating under Sunrise Education Trust, the gang first obtained the list of students who took the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). Members of the gang would contact the students from various phone numbers and by using different names. They would offer seats in MS Ramaiah Medical College, MVJ Medical College and Research, Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, BR Ambedkar Medical College, BGS Global Institute of Medical Science and BMS Medical College.

Once the students’ parents paid the money, the gang would send them confirmation messages that they have got the seats. To achieve this, the gang had prepared fake seals of the colleges and issued fake certificates. Thereafter, the suspects would switch off their phones. 

Police have frozen Rs 8 lakh found in the gang’s bank account and seized two laptops and mobile phones. If any student has been cheated similarly, he/she should approach the Cubbon Park police station. 

In a similar case, the Cubbon Park police arrested two men, Indresh Dubey and Gaurav, for cheating engineering aspirants and seized Rs 10 lakh and a demand draft for Rs 1,55 lakh from them. 

The men allegedly cheatedDr Satya Prakash, from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, by promising to enrol his son at the BMS College of Engineering.