Mumbai: The Versova police have booked four people, including a woman, for allegedly cheating a widow of Rs 45 lakh on the pretext of helping her secure a medical college seat for her daughter.
According to the FIR, the complainant, Sanjana Gondhle, 51, resides in Versova, Andheri West and works as an assistant at a clinic. Her daughter, Mitali, had cleared the 2020 NEET examination and was exploring options for medical college admission.
During this time, Meghna Satpute, one of the accused and an old acquaintance of Gondhle, assured her that she could secure Mitali’s admission and introduced her to Nitesh Pawar and Rakesh Gawade in March 2021.
The duo claimed to be trustees of SSPM Medical College, Sindhudurg, and promised to secure admission under the management quota and took Rs 15 lakh, alleged Gondhle.
She further said that the accused later claimed that due to pandemic-related rule changes, the amount required to buy the seat has risen to Rs 45 lakh. To win the complainant’s trust, Pawar and Satpute introduced Gondhle to Sawant Kaka, who showed her a merit list and claimed that her daughter’s admission was confirmed.
Trusting them, Gondhle transferred the remaining amount to Pawar. When she repeatedly inquired about the admission process, the accused threatened that further inquiries could result in the cancellation of admission and a 50% fee deduction.
Intimidated, the woman stopped following up for some time. However, when she failed to receive an admission letter and could not even contact the accused, she grew suspicious. Eventually, Gondhle directly contacted the college and was shocked to know that she has been duped.
