MUMBAI: In a shocking development, the Mumbai Police arrested the Deputy Dean of the BMC-run Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (LTMGH), Sion, in an alleged case of cheating a medical student, officials said here on Thursday.
The action by Sion Hospital came after a woman medico from Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur, Dr. Alisha A. Sheikh, 28, lodged a complaint accusing the hospital officer Rakesh Ramnarain Verma, 54 of taking a bribe of Rs 50 lakh on the pretext of giving her admission for the M.D. course, which never materialised.
The doctor's father had transferred Rs 21.10 lakh to Verma's account with the Corporation Bank, as per the investigations.
"The accused has confessed to taking the amount (Rs 50 lakh) from the complainant Dr. Sheikh. We are now probing whether the racket is spread further, whether money was taken from any other students, the involvement of other officials, if any, " said an investigating officer.
"Verma was picked up from his staff residence in the LTMGH but owing to ill health, has been admitted to the Sion Hospital for treatment and the locals informed of the same. He will be produced before the court after he recovers, " said Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Patil.
The complainant said in her statement that a few months ago, she was approached by one of the accused Rahul Singh who arranged a meeting with Verma.
Initially, Verma demanded Rs 1.50-crore for arranging the admission, but later came down to Rs 50 lakh, but the promised Masters Degree seat was never allotted to Dr. Sheikh, after which she approached the police.
In a separate matter, the Sion Police also bust a racket of medical admissions and arrested four persons who allegedly lured students with admission to the LTMGH.
This action was taken on a complaint by a Jharkhand resident, Rajiv R. Pandey who claimed he was approached by a gang posing as top doctors and offered to secure admission for his daughter on payment of Rs 30 lakh.
The accused -- Rahul Singh, Madhav Yadav, Akbar Siddiqui and Vinay Mishra -- all from Navi Mumbai, even took an advance of over Rs 1, 00, 000 from him.
The police swoop led to the recovery of 14 mobile phones, two dozen-plus SIM cards, duplicate rubber stamps of various BMC hospitals and officials, several fake Aadhaar cards, 30 debit cards of various banks, fake admission forms and other incriminating documents, said police.
Further probe is underway to trace whether the gang had cheated other students in a similar fashion and since how long the racket has been flourishing.