3 booked for duping 74-year-old man of ₹14.4lakh on pretext of char dham pilgrimage

Gurugram Three men were booked for duping a 74-year-old man of ₹14

Gurugram Three men were booked for duping a 74-year-old man of ₹14.4lakh on the pretext of arranging a pilgrimage for six of his family members, police said on Wednesday.

3 booked for duping 74-year-old man of ₹14.4lakh on pretext of char dham pilgrimage

The complainant, Bhagwati Prasad Agarwal, a resident of Delhi, had gone on a pilgrimage in a helicopter in 2018, during which the prime suspect had joined him as the tour manager of a Roorkee-based firm, police said.

Six more elderly people from Agarwal’s family planned to go on the Char Dham yatra in May and June this year, for which Agarwal contacted the suspect, police said. The suspect’s two associates collected ₹14.4lakh in cash over three days in April and May from Agarwal to arrange the trip, near Rajokri toll plaza in Udyog Vihar, police said.

A senior police officer said the trip was to begin in two batches in May 31 and June 3. “However, when the pilgrims reached Dehradun, the suspect sent a message to Agarwal that the helicopter booked for his family was grounded due to technical issues and switched off his phone, promising that he would refund the money soon, which never happened,” said the officer.

After Agarwal was unable to contact the suspect despite repeated attempts, he submitted a complaint against the suspects on August 5. However, the First Information Report (FIR) was registered only on Tuesday night, under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of Indian Penal Code at Udyog Vihar police station, after the police verified the allegations.

Agarwal said in the FIR that his family members spent an additional ₹15.5 lakh to complete the pilgrimage. He also said that his family discovered in Uttarakhand that the travel agency, in whose name the booking itinerary was provided, didn’t exist.