A man was arrested for duping people on the pretext of helping them get their children admitted to reputed schools, including Delhi Public School, RK Puram, police said on Monday.
The accused works with an NGO, which has senior political leaders as its patrons.
Using this as leverage, the accused used the names of these senior politicians to cheat people.
Manoj Arora, a school dropout, who had moved to Delhi from Kolkata in 1967 before joining the NGO as its treasurer, was arrested at Kirti Nagar in west Delhi on Saturday, police said.
He was arrested after police launched a probe into a complaint by Rajinder, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) Chhaya Sharma.
Rajinder told police that Arora had cheated him and two others to the tune of Rs 15.85 lakh. They had come in contact with Arora through a mutual friend.
Police said Arora had promised Rajinder and his friends that their children would get admission in prestigious schools under the management quota.
“While Rajinder paid Rs 6.60 lakh, Pawan Sabharwal paid Rs 5.25 lakh and Gaurav Seth Rs 4 lakh to Arora to admit their children in DPS, RK Puram,” said Sharma.
But when it did not happen, Arora did not return the money despite reminders.
The accused even threatened them, police said.
Arora told police that he started the racket after losing money in his family business.
Then he came into contact with the Aligarh-based NGO and decided to shift to Delhi.
To impress potential victims, he even bought luxury cars with VIP number plates.
He also used the red beacon light on his vehicle and carried fancy visiting cards embossed with the Ashoka emblem.
He would charge between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 29 lakh from parents to get their children admitted into a reputed school.
Police said Arora would help people in getting their children admitted to reputed schools in RK Puram, Vasant Vihar, Barakhamba Road, Dhaula Kuan and Chanakyapuri, for which he charged varying amount.
3 held for cheating people
Three brothers were arrested for duping people on the pretext of providing admission in medical courses and jobs in Indian Railways, police said.
Chandra Bhan, Rajeev Sharma and Vinod Sharma, who hail from Uttar Pradesh and were staying in Gurgaon, were arrested on Saturday, additional commissioner of police (south-east) Ajay Chaudhry said.
They were held on a complaint of Ram Samuj Gupta of Sangam Vihar. Gupta told police that he met a man, Gautam, and discussed career prospects for his son, who had taken his class 12 exams and aspires to become a doctor.
Gautam informed him that he knows Chandra Bhan who could arrange admission of his son in MBBS. A meeting was arranged between Gupta and Bhan. Bhan convinced him that he could do it for Rs 7 lakh. Bhan asked him to pay Rs 1 lakh immediately and Rs 2 lakh each in two meetings later, and the remaining amount after admission.
But after a few days, Gupta did not get any confirmation about his son’s admission and he grew suspicious. He asked Bhan to refund the money but the cheat continued to evade him. Meanwhile, Gupta met another victim Arun who had been duped similarly by Bhan and Gautam of Rs 3.15 lakh for a job in railways.
Gupta and Arun then confronted Bhan and asked him to refund the money. Bhan tried to hoodwink the victims. Over the phone he asked his brothers to deliver the money to them. They stuffed bundles of white papers sandwiched in two currency notes of Rs 500 each. Altogether eight bundles were given to the victims.
“However, the alert victims immediately checked and found that they were cheated again. With the help of beat policemen nearby Bhan's brothers were nabbed. On their instance, Bhan was arrested,” Chaudhry said.
