Mangaluru City Police on Sunday arrested two persons on charges of cheating at least 16 students from Tamil Nadu to the tune of about Rs. 2.8 crore by promising to get undergraduate medical seats in a prestigious college in Mangaluru.
Commissioner of Police M. Chandra Sekar told presspersons here on Sunday that Ullal Police Inspector Shivaprakash and his team arrested R. Sanjeev Kumar (45), native of Melur in The Niligiris district and living in Erode in Tamil Nadu and B.C. Thimmaiah (34), resident of Biligere, Madikeri taluk, Kodagu district, early Sunday morning.
Police recovered Rs. 37.5 lakh cash from them.
Seven students had lodged complaints with the Ullal Police alleging cheating by the duo, who failed to get medical seats under management quota after collecting around Rs. 20 lakh from each student. After their arrest, nine more cases came to light.
Mr. Sekar said Sanjeev Kumar had a consultancy in Erode through which he used to lure students. He would tag students to Thimmaiah, who once worked as a coordinator in the college, after the deal was fixed. Thimmaiah, who was sacked by the college as coordinator earlier, would take students around the college to gain their confidence.
Database
Stating that three similar cases were reported last year, Mr. Sekar said the City Police have prepared a database of such conmen and would host it on www.mangalorecitypolice.com by Monday.
They would also provide the pictures of the accused to all medical colleges in their jurisdiction with a request to display them as a warning post at vantage locations in the campus.
Mr. Sekar urged parents and students not to fall prey to such conmen and cross check with colleges before parting with money.
Asked whether colleges have any role in conning, Mr. Sekar said it has not come to their notice as of now.
