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School trip to NASA: Police announce ₹1 lakh reward for info on travel agent Aman Bawa
Aman and his parents are accused of duping 148 school students of ₹222 lakh, after promising to arrange an educational tour for them to NASA in US
The police on Friday announced a reward of ₹1 lakh to anyone providing information about Aman Bawa, one of the three owners of travel agency “World Leisure Holidays”.
Aman and his parents, Anuj Bawa and Rajinder Bawa, are accused of duping 148 students of Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, of ₹222 lakh in all, after promising to arrange an educational tour for them to NASA in the US.
While Rajinder was arrested October 15 last year and is currently in judicial custody, his son and wife continue to be on the run since September 26, 2019, after the Division Number 5 police lodged the first FIR against them.
In all, the family is facing three cases of duping the students and management of Sacred Heart Convent School.
The first FIR was registered against the accused on September 26 on the statement of the school principal, followed by another case on November 4 on the complaint of Inderjit Singh, Kawaldeep Singh and Ankush Jain, parents of three students.
The third FIR was registered on November 8 following a complaint by Dalip Chopra and Pankaj Sachdeva.
Announcing the reward on their Facebook page, the Ludhiana police have asked the informers to contact the Division Number 5 SHO or call at 783-701-8605, while assuring that the informer’s identity will be kept secret.
Sub-inspector Richa Rani, SHO, Division Number 5 station, said the court had already issued arrest warrants against the accused. Commissioner of police Rakesh Agrawal said a hunt was on to arrest the absconding mother-son duo.
The school had roped in the travel agency for the educational tour and a total of 148 students had paid money for it.
However, the visas of all students and staff members were rejected, following which the travel agency refused to return the money.
The complainants, Dalip, Pankaj and Anand, parents of three students, had alleged that the travel agency took ₹2.8 lakh per student to arrange US visas for their children for the educational tour. However, the agency failed to secure the visas.
Dalip said when the police complaint was filed, the agency returned ₹1.3 lakh each in two instalments, but refused to return the rest.
