Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Aug 18: Powai police have busted two Pune-based call centres and arrested 10 engineers, including a 35-year-old civil engineer, for allegedly duping at least 35 people of around Rs 50 lac by promising management quota seats for their children in engineering colleges and universities across Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Noida and Pune.

Inspector Sushant Bandgar said civil engineer Sonu Kumar was the alleged mastermind of the racket. The accused, who hail from Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, would travel to Pune every April at the beginning of the college admission season and operate the fraud for around four months.

“The team had operated out of Pune since 2024,” said DCP (West Zone-3) Datta Nalawade.

Sub-Inspector Prashant Kendre said each accused used two burner phones to evade detection by police.

Inspector Jaydeep Gosavi said the accused advertised fake admission opportunities on Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms. When prospective victims clicked on the advertisements, a pop-up window asked them to provide their names and contact details.

A Powai couple became victims of the racket after being promised admission for their son to the International Institute of Information Technology-Hyderabad. The couple paid Rs 16.5 lakh for the admission, with two of the accused even meeting them on the college premises to gain their confidence.

Senior Police Inspector A S Sawant said the couple's son later received an email on July 13, purportedly from the institute, confirming his admission and asking him to join classes on August 1. However, the family became suspicious after noticing that the domain name used in the email was different from the institute's official domain.

Nalawade said police subsequently launched an operation in which officers posed as parents to identify and apprehend the accused. “We have recovered the Powai couple's Rs 16.5 lakh,” he said.

Police said Kumar and two other accused had studied engineering together before allegedly recruiting people from their respective hometowns to join the racket.

Sub-Inspector Sagar Jadhav said the investigation had revealed at least five cases registered against the accused in different parts of the country.

“Kumar owned three high-end cars. The cars are registered in his friends' names, which have been seized,” Jadhav said.

Police have seized 22 mobile phones, 23 SIM cards, a laptop, seven debit cards and a tablet during the investigation. Around Rs 24 lakh lying in bank accounts linked to the accused has also been frozen.

Police said they are searching for two more people allegedly involved in the racket as the investigation continues.