50 people duped over medical college promise: Report

Nagpur: 50 people who were promised medical college seats for their wards duped by a Nagpur consultancy have discovered they were duped, says a recent report from India Today.

The daily reports that Rajesh Bansal, the head of Bright Path Education, and three of his partners - Anurag Thakur, Vishal and Narendra – went absconding after allegedly after duping their clients of lakhs.A Bright Path Education’s female employee told India Today that she and her co-workers are reeling under the shock of their bosses having left them in a lurch to face the wrath of angry parents.

For two months now, this female employee and her co workers had been doing the convincing sell of seats to those who didn't receive counseling calls under the All-India Quota or State Quota levels.

"We had been offering medical seats with capitation fees of Rs 10 to 25 lakh per seat...especially in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan...we were convincing these parents to accept the seats, depending on their paying capacity. We had been doing our duty with complete honesty, thinking the offered seats were genuine", said the lady.

The worst confrontation with reality for the team of employees came about when the cell phones of Bansal and company suddenly went offline and remained off for at least 12 to 24 hours.

The lady in question complained of having had to face parents on the phone continuously as Bansal had asked them to show up at colleges to complete the admission process. However, neither of the bosses made themselves present at the appointed time.

The police at Nagpur's Bajaj Nagar Police Station and Dhantoli Police Station are still waiting for a formal complaint to be filed.

Nagpur DCP (Zone 2) Rakesh Ola said, "Till now, Dhantoli police station has not received any complaint related to this scam. We are waiting. However, the employees claim to have filed the complaint after taking legal advice from their advocates."

It is reported that On NEET result announcements Bansal's team purchased the mobile numbers of potential aspirants and their guardians and started messaging to them. The messages promised the prospective clients MBBS seats in a number of private and deemed medical colleges. These included Sapthagiri Institute (Bangalore), A J Institute (Mangalore), MVJ Medical College (Bangalore), SMBT Institute (Nashik), Dr Ulhas Patil Medical College (Jalgaon), and Dr Vithalrao Vikhe Patil Medical College (Ahmednagar).

Parents who thought their children might not get in through the regular counselling rounds of the DGHS gave in to the duping game.

Different colleges had different rates quoted.

"A few medical colleges were offered with flexible capitation fees (donation), that is, 25 per cent of the total amount was to be paid by cheque, cash or online while blocking the seat against candidate's name, while (the) remaining 75 per cent...could be paid in installments till the second year of MBBS course begins", said the Bright Path Education’s lady employee.

Around 50 parents made payments to Bansal way before admissions were confirmed.They were asked to turn up outside the colleges of choice, with demand drafts of annual tuition fees and original documents, however, the seat assurers did not turn up.

One of the parents got an email from Bansal (fromrajeshkrbansal1988@gmail.com) which said, "Dr Ulhas Patil medical college fee structure is Rs 4.60 lakh. DD should be made payable to Dr Ulhas Patil Medical & Hospital. You have to carry remaining capitation fee. Reach college on 29th August at 12 noon".

However, the parents realized that they had been duped of lakhs a wee bit late in the day.

Dr Ulhas Patil Medical College officials at Jalgaon denied involvement in the racket.

"We are not aware of any Rajesh Bansal. Arrest him. Our college is following all the rules of (the) Supreme Court and not offering any seats without counseling or mop-up rounds," said an official to India Today in.