Pune News: The main accused in a gang that tried to extort lakhs of rupees from students by promising them admission in a reputed institute was arrested by the Crime Branch at Kolkata airport. The accused was preparing to flee to Thailand. Two other accused in the case are still on the run.
According to the police, a case was registered at Deccan Police Station against three people, Divya, Akash Yadav and Kunal Kumar, who are from other states, for cheating students by posting fake advertisements online by Symbiosis Institute.
These three had demanded lakhs of rupees in addition to the college fees. The accused had absconded after the case was registered. The anti-narcotics squad of the crime branch went to Delhi and Haryana to search for the accused. However, they evaded the police and fled. After that, the police had issued a lookout notice against the accused.
During the investigation, it was revealed that a case of fraud was also registered against Kunal Kumar VirendraKumar Vidyarthi (age 30, resident of Bihar) in Pune Cyber Police Station in 2021.
Notably, the court had rejected his anticipatory bail application. That case is also pending, and he was absconding in this case as well.
Meanwhile, the police received information that the accused Kunal Kumar along with his wife was going to Thailand from Kolkata airport. Based on this information, a team of the Crime Branch left for Kolkata.
On May 31, a trap was laid at Kolkata airport and the accused was arrested. He was brought to Pune and produced before the court. The court has ordered him to be kept in police custody till June 5.
On the instructions of Additional Commissioner of Police Pankaj Deshmukh of the Crime Branch, Deputy Commissioner of Police Nikhil Pingle, Assistant Commissioner Ganesh Ingle, the action was taken by Senior Inspector Ulhas Kadam, Assistant Inspector Aniket Pote, Police Officer Praveen Utekar, Dattaram Jadhav, Sandeep Shirke, Vishal Dalvi, Maruti Pardhi and Sandesh Kakade of the Anti-Narcotics Squad.
