Duping of medical aspirants being probed by ED: Three accused get bail

Such offences are more dangerous than any other offences for a developing country, it told court, adding that Appasaheb Deshmukh was the treasurer of the education society between 2011-2016.He, his brother and others had fraudulently collected Rs 29 crore from more than 350 students in the guise of admission in the MBBS course, the ED has alleged.

A special court here on Thursday granted bail to three persons accused in a money laundering case related to duping of medical aspirants on the promise of admission in a college not eligible to provide an MBBS course.

Prime accused Appasaheb Deshmukh, a former treasurer of the Kolhapur-based Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Education Society (SCSES), was arrested in June, while his brother Mahadev, also an accused in the case, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in May. Both are in judicial custody.

Special Judge MG Deshpande had summoned all the accused, including Mohammed Shah Siddique Patel, Maruti Sitole and Pranjivan Patel, after taking cognizance of the charge-sheet filed by the ED.

Patel, Sitole and Pranjivan were formally taken into judicial custody after they appeared in court on Thursday.

Their lawyer Ravi Jadhav sought bail on the ground that the trio was never arrested during the probe and hence their custody was not required.

The court after hearing the arguments of all the sides granted the three bail.

Earlier, the ED had told court Appasaheb Deshmukh and his co-accused conspired to commit a grave offence by generating proceeds of crime, thereby affecting the country's economy. Such offences are more dangerous than any other offences for a developing country, it told court, adding that Appasaheb Deshmukh was the treasurer of the education society between 2011-2016.

He, his brother and others had ''fraudulently'' collected Rs 29 crore from more than 350 students in the guise of admission in the MBBS course, the ED has alleged. The ED's probe found amounts were taken in cash and deposited in the accounts of Appasaheb Deshmukh and his kin in a bid to hide the source of funds and to show it was untainted.