Admission fraud racket busted in Delhi; Rs 1.34 crore cash seized, two held

The Delhi Police has busted an admission fraud syndicate and seized over Rs 1.34 crore cash after arresting two people, an official said on Friday.

The accused duped parents of students seeking admission in reputed institutions by sending bulk SMS, posing as admission consultants for reputed colleges and universities in Delhi, and promising admission under management quota, the police said.

“The gang allegedly collected hefty sums of money before shutting down their offices and disappearing,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Ankit Singh in a statement said.

According to the police, the arrested accused were identified as Kushagra Shrivastava (35), a BTech graduate, and Chinmaya Sinha (32), a commerce graduate — both residents of Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram.

A probe was launched following a complaint filed by a Delhi Police head constable, who alleged that she received an SMS offering admission for her son in Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University through the management quota, a statement said.

The message carried the contact details of a woman named Lavanya, who directed her to an office in Nehru Place, the DCP said.

“After negotiations, the fraudsters allegedly demanded Rs 3.5 lakh for securing admission in a reputed college. The complainant told police she had paid Rs 2.3 lakh at their office on July 29, but the accused switched off their phones and vacated the premises soon after,” DCP Singh said.

Based on her complaint, a case was registered at the Cyber Police Station in Dwarka on August 25 and further investigation was launched, he said.

“A preliminary inquiry also revealed that as many as 31 complaints had already been registered against the same group with Kalkaji police station,” the DCP said, adding that these complaints were later transferred to the Economic Offences Wing.

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The suspects were eventually traced to Indirapuram and apprehended. A massive cache of unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 1.34 crore was recovered during the raids, along with six high-end mobile phones, a laptop and documents, DCP Singh said.

He added that the Income Tax Department has also been informed regarding the seizure of unaccounted cash.

“Further investigation is underway to unearth their wider network and to identify their possible links with interstate gangs,” the DCP said.