The director of an admission consultancy on Rashbehari Avenue was arrested on Friday for allegedly taking ₹11.47 lakh from a guardian with a false promise of securing a BTech seat in a private engineering college in Salt Lake.
According to police, the fraud dates back to 2015 but the complaint was filed in 2022 by a resident of Mandeville Gardens.
The complainant had contacted Education Clinic, located at 206/1 Rashbehari Avenue, seeking admission for his niece into a Computer Science BTech course at a Salt Lake Sector V institution.
“According to the complaint, the consultancy director, JP Dasgupta, promised admission through the 'management quota' and initially accepted ₹4 lakh in cash. Later, he demanded additional payments through a demand draft, bringing the total amount paid to ₹11,47,700. However, the promised admission never materialised," said an officer attached to the probe.
When the complainant confronted the agency, he was given a cheque for ₹1.75 lakh as partial refund, with a promise to return the remaining amount. But the balance was never refunded, even after nearly 10 years, the officer said.
The guardian lodged a formal complaint against Dasgupta, which led to his arrest on Friday. The police are investigating whether Dasgupta is involved in other similar cases of cheating related to student admissions.
A senior Bidhannagar police officer noted that such incidents of cheating and criminal breach of trust are common, as guardians often pay large sums to secure seats in reputed institutes, unaware that such admissions may not be legitimate. “Many cases go unreported due to lack of evidence or proof,” the officer added.