Medical college admission scam: Two more influential people found involved

KOLKATA: The Bidhannagar detective department has found the clear link of two more "influential" people who helped Partho Guha — the main accused in the recent medical seat scam in Salt Lake — set up his offices and fool hundreds of aspirants for the past four years through different fraud educational institutes. "We have been able to identify the two men who had provided all the logistical resources to Partha to carry out the con operation.These are beyond the three others who have already been arrested," said a top official. Cops also believe that Guha operated from other districts and are probing if some of his scams has gone unnoticed.
According to the police, the accused Partho had even managed to open up specific groups on social websites through which he interacted with young students. "He would float his ideas on the internet and wait for the response. Thus in 2012 he chose to operate an engineering scam but this year he had targeted student opting for medical courses as he knew that this year there was a real threat of medical seats getting reduced in the state by the Medical Council of India (MCI)," said an officer.
Sources said that Partho would consult these two men immediately after hatching a plot. "The role of these two men was limited to hunting a "safe place" to open the office and begin the publicity of the same. In this particular case, advertisements were taken out in a leading Bengali daily thrice. The accused, we believe, are in possession of the remaining Rs 50 lakh worth of unaccounted money after we initially recovered Rs 1.06 crore in the first place.
According to sources, it was in 2012 that Partha had cheated students worth Rs 50 lakh by promising them seats in engineering colleges. He had opened a fake accounts at a bank located at South City on that occasion. In 2012 and 2013, he was arrested by Bidhannagar South for cheating. In 2013, he had promised students seats at an engineering college off Ruby Hospital and was worth Rs 38 lakh. But this time round, the amount cheated is worth several crores.
A considerable chunk of students from Kolkata aspire to complete their higher studies through management quota both inside and outside the state — if not abroad. But sources say this has led to formation of several fake admission rackets making money at will. Of late, at least three such gangs have been busted in the city and his suburbs with at least three other aviation academies under the scanner. "We had earlier arrested a gang that promised to arrange engineering seats to students at premium. We would plead with students and parents to do a thorough check of the institute before investing," said an investigating officer.