A dentist from Nepal came to India to pursue a post-graduate course after she was promised a seat under the NRI quota at Vokkaligara Sangha Dental College & Hospital, Visvesvarapuram (VSDC&H). She paid Rs 15 lakh to a member of the Sangha whom she met through an agent, but it was a matter of time before she realised she had been cheated.

The dentist has now filed a complaint against the Sangha director and the agent with VV Puram police and is fighting for her seat.“I came across an agent who promised me a seat under the NRI quota. But now I lost my money, and got no seat. I’m waiting for police to act against them,” she told TOI.

She is one among the many students who paid for MDS/BDS seats at the college to study post-graduate dentistry, but have been left in the lurch. Many members of the Sangha are facing allegations of collecting money from students and not remitting it to the management.

“We’ve filed cases against some members who failed to pay the money collected from students to the management. There are several students who are still facing trouble,” said DN Bettegowda, president of Vokkaligara Sagha.

The management, which accused some previous directors of collecting money from students, alleged that funds to the tune of Rs 53 crore were misappropriated between 2014 and 2017.

According to The Time of India, in another case, a medical college student, who got enrolled in 2016-17, was questioned by the management for non-payment of her ‘fee’. It was found that the student had already paid it to a member who did not deposit it with the management.

Dr Appaji Gowda, former president of the Sangha, who had paid Rs 30 lakh after the management questioned the student, had a different story to tell. “Now that everything has gone public, I must say that the student who had paid Rs 50 lakh to the member was harassed by the management to the extent that she had even contemplated suicide. I intervened then and wrote a letter to the management and gave a cheque of Rs 30 lakh on her behalf. What’s forgotten by the current management is that the previous administration had asked the same member to use that amount to ‘make sure’ that the college gets enhancement of 40 seats in 2016-17. The member paid that amount to an appropriate authority to get things done,” he said.