LUCKNOW: A city-based family was allegedly duped of ₹36.89 lakh by cyber fraudsters who promised to secure a government medical college seat for their daughter. The perpetrators lured the family through an online campaign, collected payments through digital transactions as well as cash, and issued a forged allotment letter alongside a counterfeit fee receipt. The fraud came to light when the victims reached the medical college in Bengaluru to complete the admission formalities, only to discover that no seat had been allocated in their daughter’s name. Following a formal complaint, the Gomti Nagar Extension police registered a case against five named individuals and their unidentified associates, while investigators managed to place around ₹24 lakh on hold.
False Promises and Escalating Demands
The ordeal began when the complainant, Suman Katiyar, a resident of Greenwood Apartment, sought admission pathways for her daughter, who was preparing for medical studies through the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). On October 1, the daughter spotted an advertisement on Instagram running under the handle ‘Doctor Admission Desk’, which claimed to facilitate direct admissions into medical colleges. When the family contacted the phone numbers associated with the profile, the operators assured them that they could arrange a confirmed seat in a government medical college through an institutional quota in exchange for a donation.
Persuaded by these assurances, the family agreed to pursue the offer. The fraudsters initially quoted a sum of ₹30 lakh, but soon revised their demand to ₹45 lakh, categorising the inflated figure as an institutional donation. They instructed the family to deposit ₹6 lakh as token money to lock in the seat, while promising that the remaining amount could be cleared during the final admission process. To build credibility, the accused established steady contact through WhatsApp and email exchanges, asking for the candidate’s NEET scorecards and official counselling records. On October 2, the family made an advance bank transfer of ₹3 lakh to an account provided by the suspects.
Transfers in Installments and Cash Delivery
Following the initial payment, the fraudsters continued to press for additional funds to push the file forward. The family subsequently transferred ₹26.89 lakh online in multiple tranches across various bank accounts. In addition to the electronic transactions, the suspects insisted on taking a substantial portion of the money in physical currency, claiming that the institutional quota required cash processing through hawala channels.
An intermediary was sent directly to the victim’s residence in Lucknow, where he collected ₹10 lakh in cash. In total, the family handed over ₹36.89 lakh to the syndicate. To reinforce their trust, the accused delivered an allotment letter and an official fee receipt purportedly issued by a medical college in Bengaluru. Convinced that the admission had been confirmed, the family prepared for travel to conclude the enrollment.
Reality Exposed at Bengaluru Campus
On October 10, Katiyar arrived in Bengaluru alongside her daughter to finalise the admission. Upon presenting the allotment letter and fee receipt at the college administrative office, officials informed them that the paperwork was entirely forged and that no candidate under that name had been admitted to the institution. Realising they had been trapped in an elaborate fraud, the family immediately lodged an online complaint on the national cybercrime reporting portal, submitting transaction histories, digital correspondence, and the fabricated documents.
On Wednesday, the Gomti Nagar Extension police registered a formal first information report against Vijay Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Tarun Kumar, Raghavendra Chaudhary, and other unidentified associates. Authorities have initiated a financial trace on the beneficiary accounts, freezing roughly ₹24 lakh linked to the transfers, while investigations continue to identify the printing source of the counterfeit certificates and recover the outstanding funds.
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