Delhi Police busts college admission racket, ₹1.34-cr. seized from two arrested

The Delhi police arrested two persons in connection with a college admission racket and seized over ₹1.34 crore in cash from them, an officer said on Friday.

The accused have been identified as Kushagra Shrivastava, 35, a BTech graduate, and Chinmaya Sinha, 32, a commerce graduate — both residents of Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram.

According to the police, the accused duped parents of students seeking admission in reputed institutions by sending them fake SMSes posing as admission consultants and promising admission under the management quota. “The gang collected hefty sums of money before shutting down their office and disappearing,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Ankit Singh said.

‘Office in Nehru Place’

A probe was launched after a Delhi Police head constable filed a complaint at the Cyber Police Station in Dwarka, alleging that she received an SMS which offered her son admission in Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University. The message carried the contact details of a woman, Lavanya, who directed her to an office in Nehru Place, the DCP said.

“After negotiations, the fraudsters allegedly demanded ₹3.5 lakh for getting her son admitted to the college. The complainant told the police she had paid ₹2.3 lakh at their office on July 29, soon after which the accused switched off their phones and vacated the premises,” he added.

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

The suspects were eventually traced to Indirapuram and apprehended. Apart from the cash, six high-end mobile phones, a laptop and some documents were also seized, Mr. Singh said.

He added that the Income Tax Department has also been informed about the seizure of unaccounted cash. “Further investigation is under way to unearth the wider network and identify any possible links with inter-State gangs,” the DCP said.