Mumbai: RK College professor arrested for duping students on pretext of providing admission to B.Pharma courses

The Kurar Police arrested a 36-year-old Malad-based college professor for allegedly cheating 12 students on the pretext of providing admission in B.Pharma. The arrested accused, Sanjay Gupta, had also taken a fee ranging between ₹1.20 lakh and ₹1.70 lakh to secure the admission, along with the students' original mark sheets and school leaving certificates. Gupta has been booked for cheating charges and was arrested on Wednesday.

According to police, the complainant, 20, an aspiring B.Pharma student, was unable to secure admission for the course after he got an insufficient score in the MH-CET examination after his Class 12. Meanwhile, the student learnt that his professor at RK College, Sanjay Gupta, who owns a pharmacy in the neighbourhood, wherein he conducted private classes, was helping students secure admission in the B.Pharma courses.

Police said, in an attempt to secure admission in the desired course, the complainant's father met Gupta, wherein he asked for a fee of ₹1.70 lakh to secure admission in B.Pharma. The complainant's fathers, however, paid a sum of ₹1.20 lakh in a series of transactions between 2020 and 2022, after which Gupta assured that the student would get admission in Bengaluru's Surya College, and had taken the students' mark sheets as well as a school leaving certificate.

An officer said Gupta had told the students that they would have to appear for the first year B.Pharma written examination in Bengaluru on March 24. Even as the date approached, Gupta had not provided any hall tickets to the students.

On Tuesday, the students approached Gupta at his pharmacy store in Malad and confronted him on the status of their examination hall tickets, only to learn that Gupta never facilitated their admission in the Bengaluru college for B.Pharma course, let alone the hall ticket. Gupta, however, assured that he would return their money and documents within a month, but to no avail.

After the students realised they were duped by Gupta of their money and documents, they approached Kurar Police and lodged a complaint, acting on which the professor was booked for cheating charges on Wednesday. He was later arrested by Kurar police and produced before a local magistrate court, which remanded him to police custody.