Mumbai Police Arrest 10 in ₹50 Lakh Engineering Admission Scam

A group of 10 engineers has been arrested by the Powai police in Mumbai for allegedly cheating 35 families of nearly ₹50 lakh by posing as admission agents for engineering colleges. The accused, led by 35-year-old civil engineer Sonu Kumar, targeted parents seeking admissions to colleges in Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Noida, and Pune.

The accused used social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to post advertisements offering engineering admissions under the management quota. They would then contact interested parents and demand large sums of money to secure seats. In one case, a Powai couple lost ₹16.5 lakh after being promised admission for their son to the International Institute of Information Technology-Hyderabad.

The couple became suspicious when they received an email confirming their son's admission from a domain different from the institute's official domain. The case came to light when police officers posed as parents and approached the accused, leading to their arrests. The police recovered the entire ₹16.5 lakh paid by the Powai couple and seized 22 mobile phones, 23 SIM cards, a laptop, seven debit cards, and a tablet.

The accused had been operating the racket from Pune since 2024, returning to their native places in Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh every April when the college admission season began. They allegedly ran the operation for around four months each year. Kumar and two other accused had studied engineering together and later recruited people from their hometowns to expand the racket.

The police have found at least five cases registered against members of the group in different parts of the country. To avoid detection, each accused allegedly used two burner phones. Around ₹24 lakh in funds linked to the accused were frozen, while three high-end cars allegedly belonging to Kumar but registered in friends' names were also seized.

The police are now searching for two more suspects and investigating the group's financial transactions to identify additional victims. The arrests have brought relief to the families who were cheated, and the police are warning parents to be cautious when dealing with admission agents.

The case highlights the need for parents to be vigilant when seeking admissions for their children. With the increasing use of social media, it has become easier for scamsters to target vulnerable parents. The police are advising parents to verify the authenticity of admission agents and to be wary of demands for large sums of money.

The Mumbai police have been cracking down on cybercrime in recent months, and this arrest is a significant breakthrough in their efforts to combat online scams. The police are working to identify and prosecute those involved in such scams, and to raise awareness among the public about the dangers of online fraud.

In the end, the arrests have sent a strong message to those involved in such scams that they will be caught and prosecuted. The police are committed to protecting the public from online fraud and to ensuring that those who engage in such activities are brought to justice.