A woman has been arrested for allegedly forging admission documents of a school and cheating parents of a student out of ₹12.47 lakh for his admission in Class I.

Shiela Swamy, alias Margaret Xavier, was arrested from her Kasba apartment on Tuesday.

Two others co-accused in the case, including her husband, are at large.

Police said a resident of Ekbalpore, Shomaila Asif, had paid the accused persons ₹12.47 lakh after they convinced her that they could get her son admitted to the school.

The accused persons allegedly forged the school’s admission documents to make the mother believe that the school had accepted her son. Later, the mother realised that the trio had cheated her.

“During the investigation, the bank account statement of the accused was obtained. Upon analysis, it was found that a total of 32 UPI transactions were made from the complainant’s account to the accused’s account between December 6, 2023, and September 30, 2024, amounting to ₹6,82,800. Further, as per the letter of complaint, the accused also received ₹4.10 lakh in cash, along with two cheques — one amounting to ₹1.4 lakh and another ₹60,000,” said an officer of the Port division.

Senior police officers said it was vital for parents to remain alert against such cheats who could lure them with claims of having sources to get their child admitted to a school of their choice.

“Parents should directly get in touch with the school instead of trying to get their child admitted through any middleman or any agent,” said a senior police officer of Kolkata Police.