Ludhiana: 4 FIRs against travel agent siblings, aide for visa frauds

Amit Malhotra and his sister Veenu were arrested on September 6, 2024, for duping several people on the pretext of sending them abroad

The problems for travel agent Amit Malhotra, his sister and aide Karun Kumar have increased as the Model Town police have registered four fraud cases against them in one day. The investigation into the complaints has been pending for a long time.

The accused used to run their immigration business from their office Global Way Immigration near Ishmeet Chowk. (HT File)

The accused used to run their immigration business from their office Global Way Immigration near Ishmeet Chowk.

The first FIR was lodged following the statement of Vishaldeep Singh of village Pandori Waraich of Amritsar. Vishldeep Singh stated that the accused took ₹10 lakh from him on the pretext of securing a UK visa. The accused neither arranged the visa nor returned his money. He filed a complaint against the accused on October 9, 2024.

The second case has been lodged following the complaint of Sharanjit Kaur of Bhagwan Das Colony of Salem Tabri. The complainant stated that the accused took ₹11.75 lakh for securing UK visas for her and her husband. The complainant had filed a complaint to police on June 17, 2024

The third case was lodged following the complaint filed by Navdeep Singh of village Khubbi of Gurdaspur. The complainant stated that the accused took ₹3.25 lakh on the pretext of securing a Canada visa. He filed a complaint on the accused on September 18, 2024.

The fourth case has been lodged following the statement of Inderjit Singh of Partap Singh Wala. The complainant in his complaint filed on August 31, 2024, stated that the accused took ₹8.9 lakh on the pretext of securing visas for his wife, son and for him, but failed. The accused did not return his money.

The FIRs have been lodged under section 420 of IPC and section 24 of the Immigration Act.

Amit Malhotra and his sister Veenu Malhotra were arrested on September 6, 2024, for duping several people on the pretext of sending them abroad after a woman police personnel, who is deputed in chief minister security, had filed a complaint. According to the woman cop, the accused had duped her brother and mother of ₹14.30 lakh on the pretext of arranging UK visas for them.

Earlier on August 12, 2024, Hardeep Singh of Dhuri of Sangrur and his wife Amandeep Kaur had climbed atop a water tank near Ishmeet Chowk accusing the same firm of duping them of ₹10 lakh. The complainant said the immigration firm had demanded ₹26 lakh, with an advance payment of ₹10 lakh to secure visas for them. They made a payment of ₹10 lakh via RTGS in February this year. However, the firm kept delaying the process, making excuses whenever they approached for updates on the visa. Later, the accused refused to refund the money.

A day after the incident, on August 13, 2024, the district administration had cancelled the firm’s licence in the wake of the multiple complaints.

Notorious travel agent booked for duping advocate

The police lodged another FIR against notorious travel agent Chirag Kapoor, who is already facing at least 12 FIRs for duping people on the pretext of sending them abroad, on Tuesday.

The FIR has been lodged following the statement of advocate Varinder Singh Gill of village Gill. The complainant stated that the accused promised to send him Spain and took ₹5.50 lakh from him. The accused neither returned his money nor sent him abroad.

He filed a complaint to the police on July 26, 2024.

Sub-inspector Bibbalpal Kaur, who is investigating the case, stated that the FIR was lodged following an investigation. The accused has been booked under section 420 of the IPC and section 24 of the Immigration Act. A hunt is on for the arrest of the accused.

Kapoor is already facing trial in at least 12 cases of immigration fraud. The CIA-II of Ludhiana police commissionerate had arrested him. The police had recovered 20 passports, one SUV and other documents from his possession. Kapoor had duped a number of police officials also on the pretext of arranging visas for them.

Case filed against 2 more

In another case the Model Town police booked travel agents Mahi Sharma of Shivpuri and Jagvir Singh of Gobindgarh of Jugiana for duping Rupinder Singh of Sekha Road of Barnala of ₹1.85 lakh for sending his wife and him to New Zealand.

The Model Town police in another case booked travel agents Sukhmanpreet Kaur, her husband Aman Masih, Shabnam Shahukh Iqbal, Shivani Gopibin and Patel Kiur Kumar for duping Joseph Chand of Nehru Nagar of Model Town. The complainant stated that the accused duped him of ₹19.60 lakh on the pretext of securing a UK Visa for him.