The IIT dream that turned into a scam

Yuvraj Kumar Sharma, also known as Sonu Kumar, 35, had once set his sights on becoming an engineer, like thousands of other students who traveled to Kota each year to take the IIT entrance exam. Despite his aspirations, he failed to secure a seat at an IIT and later graduated in civil engineering from MIT Academy in Pune in 2016.

Years later, according to police, he was orchestrating an operation that allegedly targeted students with similar ambitions. What began as a coaching center and admission consultancy evolved into a seasonal admission racket, allegedly managed through two fraudulent call centers in Pune. The scheme surfaced when a mother from Powai accused police of being defrauded of Rs 16.5 lakh.

Following police intervention and a court order, the entire sum was recovered. Swami, 47, approached an Instagram account named “techorbit1111”, which allegedly promised her son admission to the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad. Despite the payment of Rs 16.5 lakh, the promised admission never materialized.

This incident led to the discovery of a much larger operation. Police identified five mobile phones allegedly used by the suspects and traced them to two rented apartments in Viman Nagar and Lohegaon, as well as the third floor of City Vista Building in Kharadi. A raid on August 16 resulted in the arrest of ten individuals working in the call centers.

According to investigators, the group utilized social media, paid accounts, and bogus SIM cards to identify potential victims. Once a target was found, they contacted them, promising admission to reputed engineering institutes through management or NRI quotas. Meetings with students and parents, mostly outside college campuses, were arranged, with one accused posing as an official from the college administration.

Money was collected, often in cash, under the guise of admission fees. For those insisting on online payments, another system was employed. Police noted that the accused opened a bank account in 2024 to receive such payments. After receiving the money, they approached petrol pump employees to collect it through Google Pay or debit cards.

The call centers would then shut down, with the phones and SIM cards allegedly destroyed, allowing the operators to vanish before the college admission lists were announced. Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalawade explained that this was an interstate admission scam operated through two bogus call centers by engineers from prominent institutes.

The operation had been running since 2019, targeting students seeking admission to colleges in Pune, Delhi, and other parts of the country. So far, police have identified 30 mobile numbers linked to the syndicate and found connections to at least six similar cases in Mumbai, Nagpur, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka. Seven individuals have come forward, alleging they paid money but did not receive admission.