In a shocking case of exploitation, the BKC police in Mumbai have registered a cheating case against two individuals, including a serving traffic police constable, for allegedly duping multiple parents by falsely promising to secure school or college admissions for their children.
The Modus Operandi of the Racket
The accused, identified as Mehfooz Zaki Ahmed Sheikh alias Rajesh Kotwani, was arrested last week. His alleged accomplice, traffic constable Amol Dattatreya Awaghade, has been suspended from duty. According to police officials, the scam operated with a systematic approach.
Sheikh would reportedly loiter outside prominent schools and colleges in the city. His primary task was to click photographs of the number plates of cars dropping off or picking up students. These photographs were then sent to constable Awaghade.
Exploiting his official position and access, Awaghade would use the e-challan machine – a device meant for issuing fines to traffic violators – to pull up the registered vehicle owner's details from official databases. This provided them with names and contact information of the parents.
How Parents Were Targeted and Cheated
Armed with the personal details of the car owners, Sheikh would then contact these individuals. He posed as a fixer with inside connections to educational institutions. He offered to arrange admission for their children in specific, often sought-after, schools or colleges in exchange for a substantial "facilitation fee."
The police clarified that the schools and colleges named in the racket were completely unaware of these fraudulent activities. The accused were simply using the reputations of these institutions to lure anxious parents.
Police Action and Fallout
The scam began to unravel after several parents filed complaints with the BKC police, stating they had paid money but received no admission. An investigation team was promptly formed to probe the cheating cases.
Following leads, the police arrested Mehfooz Sheikh last week. During interrogation, he allegedly named traffic constable Amol Awaghade as his source of the confidential vehicle owner information.
As a result, constable Awaghade was suspended on November 28. A departmental inquiry has also been initiated against him for his grave misconduct and breach of trust. The BKC police station official confirmed these developments on Wednesday, highlighting a serious case of power misuse.
This incident exposes a disturbing method of cheating where public servants misuse access to sensitive data for personal gain, preying on the anxieties of parents during the competitive admission season.
