Ludhiana: 3 travel agents booked for fraud

A couple in Guru Nanak Colony allegedly took ₹7 lakh from her neighbour with a promise to get her son settled abroad; in Dholewal, a woman paid ₹2.46 lakh for Portugal visa but lost the money

The Ludhiana police have booked three travel agents for allegedly duping people on the pretext of sending them abroad. In the first case, the Sadar police booked a couple for duping a neighbour of ₹7 lakh on the pretext of getting her son settled abroad.

Two FIRs have been registered.

Complainant Baljeet Kaur, a resident of Guru Nanak Colony, said her son Navdeep Singh wanted to settle abroad and accused couple, Harpinder Singh and Navneet Kaur, residents of the same locality, assured to send her son to Canada. The woman added that the couple took ₹7 lakh from her in installments but didn’t fulfil their promise and also didn’t return money.

Baljeet Kaur filed a police complaint on March 2, 2023 following which an inquiry was marked. ASI Tarsem Lal, who is investigating the case, said a case under Sections 420 (cheating), 120-B (Criminal conspiracy) of the BNS and Immigration Act was registered against Harpinder Singh and his wife Navneet Kaur after an inquiry. The accused are yet to be arrested.

In the second case, a Dholewal resident, Parminder Kaur, lost ₹2.46 lakh to a travel agent. Parminder Kaur said she wanted to go to Portugal on a tourist visa. She approached travel agent Mani Verma of Sahnewal who took ₹2.46 lakh but did not arrange a visa for her.

ASI Harbhajan Singh, who is investigating the case, said the woman had filed a complaint with the police on July 29, 2023. After an inquiry, the police have lodged an FIR against Mani Verma under Section 420 (cheating) of the IPC at the Division number 6 police station.