2 doctors among 4 booked for duping senior physician of Rs 70 lakh in MBBS admission fraud

Mumbai, Sep 22 (PTI) Four persons, including two doctors, have been booked for allegedly duping a physician to the tune of Rs 70 lakh by promising his daughter admission in MBBS course at a Mumbai municipal medical college and hospital under the management quota, police said on Monday.

According to an official of the Sion police station, where an FIR was lodged, the accused were identified as doctors Rakesh Ramnarayan Verma, Dr Akhileshkumar Rammoorthy Pal, both working at Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital in Sion, and two others, Luv Avadhkishore Gupta and Kush Gupta.

All four will soon be summoned for questioning in the pandemic-era cheating case, he said.

The complainant, a 61-year-old doctor, lives in Sion with his wife and daughter. Both he and his wife are practising doctors and run a clinic in Dharavi located near Sion. Their daughter, after failing to qualify through NEET five years ago, had been exploring possibilities of admission under the management quota, said the official.

The family had enquired at various medical colleges, including LTM Medical College (also called Sion Medical College), JJ Hospital, DY Patil, and Vedanta Hospital in adjoining Palghar for her admission, but to no avail.

It was during this time that the complainant came in contact with Dr Verma, who told him he could secure admission for his daughter under the management quota at LTM Medical College, said police.

Subsequently, in a meeting at a hotel in Sion, Dr Pal demanded Rs 1 crore for the admission. When the complainant expressed his inability to pay such a large amount, he was introduced to Luv Gupta, after which the "admission" deal was settled at Rs 70 lakh, stated the official.

Between September 2020 and February 2021, the complainant paid the amount in instalments at an office in Belapur in Navi Mumbai following instructions from the accused. A few days later, he received an email (which later turned out to be fake) confirming his daughter's "admission" in the prestigious college, he said.

The accused provided a forged admission letter in March 2021 after which the complainant's daughter began attending supposed online lectures (in view of coronavirus pandemic).

She soon became suspicious when only five students appeared to be attending the classes, all conducted through audio. She had never seen any faculty member, including her alleged professor Anupam Patil, said the official.

The cheating case came to light when the complainant approached the LTM Medical College dean, who confirmed no such admission had taken place, and the admission letter was bogus. Upon realising the fraud, the complainant demanded his money back, but the accused ignored his repeated requests, he said.

Finally, he complained to the Sion police, leading to the registration of an FIR, the official added. PTI ZA RSY