A case has been registered against four persons for allegedly cheating a homoeopath in Gujarat’s Mehsana who paid Rs 16.32 lakh to get admission to a medical course in Uttar Pradesh but received a fake degree instead. Based on a complaint lodged by one Suresh Patel (41), who holds the degree of Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS), the Nandasan police on June 14 registered a case under sections 406 (breach of trust) and 420 (cheating), inspector J G Vaghela said.

The police have named Dr Premkumar Rajput, a resident of Nainital, Dr Shaukat Khan of Moradabad, and south Delhi residents Arun Kumar and Anand Kumar as accused in the first information report (FIR).

As per the FIR, in 2018, Patel, who works at a private hospital in Nandasan village, came across a website offering admissions into an MBBS course at Bundelkhand University in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.

Patel telephoned Dr Rajput, whose number was given on the website, to get more details, and following several conversations over the phone, he agreed to pay the fees, it stated.

The accused told Patel that he would earn a degree from the Bundelkhand University after completing the five-and-a-half-year course, and the complainant was ready to leave his job and move to UP for studies.

Patel deposited Rs 16.32 lakh in different bank accounts provided by the accused between July 2018 and March 2019, and they assured him that the course would commence soon.

However, Dr Rajput and others could not be contacted, and their phones got switched off soon after, the FIR stated.

In March 2019, Patel received a courier at his workplace, and he found mark sheets, a degree certificate with training and registration certificates in his name.

The certificates had registration numbers issued by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and Gujarat Medical Council, it was stated.

The MCI and the university administration later confirmed that the documents were fake.

In 2019, Patel gave an application to the Mehsana police about the cheating case.

A police team and Patel reached Sangam Vihar in south Delhi to trace one of the accused, but someone else was living there.

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