5, including family of four, booked for defrauding 40 Hajj pilgrims of ₹24L

Mumbai: Five persons, including four members of a family, were booked on Saturday for allegedly defrauding 40 people from West Bengal by accepting advance payments of ₹24 lakh and giving them bogus air tickets and fake hotel booking to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage

Mumbai: Five persons, including four members of a family, were booked on Saturday for allegedly defrauding 40 people from West Bengal by accepting advance payments of ₹24 lakh and giving them bogus air tickets and fake hotel booking to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage.

HT Image

The accused, have been identified as Shahbaj Ali, Mohammad Salim Qureshi, his wife Salma Qureshi, and their two children, Rashid Qureshi and Saida Qureshi alias Saba. The accused are absconding, and the police are looking for them, the officer said.

According to the police, the complainant, Wasim Mustar, 40, who is in the garment business, alleged that in March this year, he went to his sister’s place in Ranchi, Jharkhand, where he met Shahbaj Ali.

Ali runs a tea stall, where Mustar often visits. During a casual discussion, Ali said that he sent many people to Mumbai from where his person sent them for Haj pilgrimage. Mustar appreciated his work and also expressed that several people from his village were also keen to visit the pilgrimage so he could help them. Ali then provided a visit card of the Mumbai-based person Mohammad Salim Qureshi and gave Qureshi’s contact number and address, said a police officer.

Qureshi has been running tours and travel business ‘Al Qureshi Travels’ in Sion, Trombay Road in Chembur.

Ali even contacted Qureshi and made Mustar speak with him on the phone. Muster came to Mumbai and met Qureshi and his family in the office.

During his visit, he said 40 people from the village wanted to go for Hajj and requested him to help them at a discounted rate, added the official.

Qureshi claimed that he had been in this business for more than three decades, and not a single person had any complaints against him. He also promised that he would arrange accommodation in a five-star hotel and would provide air tickets.

Qureshi asked Mustar to send money into his manager Shahbaj Ali’s account and

he immediately sent ₹75,000 while sitting in Qureshi’s office, which Ali then confirmed and told Qureshi. From March 22 to April 23, Mustar made a total of 15 transactions amounting to ₹24 lakh, added the officer..

Mustar then gave 40 passports, and after a few days, the accused sent air tickets and hotel booking confirmation for a three-star hotel in Saudi Arabia. Later, Qureshi started avoiding his call and suspected foul play. Upon checking, Mustar learnt that the tickets and hotel booking were bogus. He then contacted his wife Salma, who said Qureshi was not well and that once his health was fine, he would contact them and warned him not to call them, added the officer.

In November, Mustar came to the city with four to five people who were supposed to go for Hajj and inquired with neighbours, who told them that Qureshi had duped many people and could not be trusted. When the victims met Qureshi in his office in November to confirm their visit, Qureshi threatened them to leave his office and forget the money, added the officer.

On November 3, Mustar approached the police station and gave a written complaint. The police inquired into the matter, and once they got evidence, a case was registered on Saturday against Qureshi and his family members and manager Ali, Nagraj Majage, senior inspector, Chembur police station, said.

The accused have been booked under sections 420, 465, 468, 471, and 506 of the IPC.