Panchkula: 3 men arrested for ₹43-lakh fraud on deported youth’s plaint

The victim, Virender Kumar, a Class-12 passout, told police that he was introduced to a Kurukshetra-based travel agent Pankaj Sharma.

Panchkula police have arrested three men for allegedly duping a 25-year-old Chandimandir Cantt resident of ₹43 lakh under the pretence of helping him move to the US.

During the accused’s remand, Panchkula police recovered ₹31 lakh of the total amount. (HT)

Along with three more accused, the trio, identified as Satyam and Gaurav Jain, both residents of Ambala Cantt, and Saurav Jindal of Zirakpur, Punjab, sent the victim to the US through illegal channels.

But on January 25, he was apprehended by US Border Patrol and jailed, and was among the 117 deportees sent back to India on February 13. During the accused’s remand, police recovered ₹31 lakh of the total amount.

The victim, Virender Kumar, a Class-12 pass-out, told police that he was introduced to a Kurukshetra-based travel agent Pankaj Sharma. The agent assured him of a US tourist visa, which he claimed could later be converted into a work visa, in exchange for ₹35 lakh, with an advance payment of ₹17 lakh.

Trusting Pankaj, Virender said he handed over his passport and arranged the initial sum by selling his father’s plot in Mubarakpur, Mohali.

Waded through 13 countries for six months before reaching the US

The victim narrated that on July 14, 2024, travel agent Pankaj instructed him to travel to Delhi for an immediate flight to Dubai.

Upon arrival in Dubai, a man took him to an apartment housing over 100-150 other Indian youths. Shortly after, a mysterious caller directed him to fly to Bahrain, then Istanbul, Turkey, and finally Sao Paulo in Brazil by July 20, where he stayed for a week at his own expense.

“One night, the travel agent’s associate told me I had to travel to Bolivia by taxi, despite our agreement for air travel. When I protested, they confiscated my passport and forced me to pay $1,600. From Bolivia, I was sent through Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama, where the agent’s men extorted another ₹2 lakh from me. When I refused, they left me stranded in the jungle. After five days of walking, I reached Costa Rica, then travelled by bus to Honduras, where his men locked me in a car trunk and transported me to Guatemala,” he told the police.

Held captive, tortured in Mexico for five months

On September 5, 2024, upon reaching Guatemala, Virender said, he was kept in a hotel for a week, during which Pankaj demanded ₹14 lakh from his family.

Thereon, he was locked in a container and abandoned in a Mexican jungle, where he was captured by human traffickers. He was tortured, and forced to do menial labour like washing clothes and cleaning rooms.

After being held captive for five months in Mexico, Virender was eventually released and taken to the Tijuana border on January 21, where he was left to cross into the US on his own, only to be caught by the US Border Patrol on January 25, leading to his deportation.

On his complaint, an FIR was registered under Sections 316 (2), 308 (3), 318 (4), 143 (2) and 61 of the BNS, along with Section 24 of the Emigration Act, at the Chandimandir police station.