On Sunday, Jharsuguda police uncovered a fraudulent BEd admission scheme, arresting two individuals for allegedly deceiving students by offering admissions to colleges in Andhra Pradesh. The suspects, identified as Chittaranjan Barik and his associate Reema Barik, both hailing from Sambalpur, reportedly targeted aspiring students by claiming they could secure seats in institutions like Seven Hills BEd College and Ramalakshmi College of Education in Guntur district through informal arrangements, charging between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 per candidate.

Investigations revealed that the scam was operated under the name ‘One World Academy’, which Barik co-founded a few years ago with two others, Alok Kumar Patra and Sangram Kesari, with the aim of facilitating admissions to BEd colleges outside Odisha. However, after the other two members became inactive, Barik allegedly took control of the operation, misleading students by falsely promising admission to a non-existent distance mode course at Seven Hills BEd College.

Jharsuguda SP GR Raghavendra stated that Barik collected money from numerous students but failed to secure any admissions or refund their payments. To further deceive the victims, he allegedly created forged documents to indicate that their admissions had been processed.

With the first-semester examinations at Seven Hills college set to begin on Monday, Barik did not provide students with the necessary information or documents to attend. This lack of communication raised suspicions, leading a woman to file a complaint that resulted in his arrest.