Amritsar man duped of Rs 12 lakh; police book fake travel agent

Tribune News Service

PK Jaiswar

Amritsar, May 26

Two days after the police booked a Delhi-based man for duping two families on the pretext of sending their wards to the US who later landed in Indonesian jail, another incident has been reported in which a fake travel agent defrauded a man of Rs 12 lakh for sending his son to Portugal.

Victim was stranded at serbia for 15 days

The victim, Gurcharan Singh (35), was stranded at Serbia for 15 days as the accused’s accomplices (donkers) took his passport, cash and tickets. He somehow landed in Portugal, but his family members are fearing for his life and well-being.

The victim, Gurcharan Singh (35), was stranded at Serbia for 15 days as the accused’s accomplices (donkers) took his passport, cash and tickets. He somehow landed in Portugal, but his family members are fearing for his life and well-being.

The accused was identified as Pavitar Singh, alias Pavitarjit Singh, of Daburji area falling under the Mehta police station here. He was booked under Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) of IPC and Section 13 of the Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act 2012 though he was yet to be arrested.

The case was registered after over two-month-long investigations conducted by a DSP-rank official. The complaint was lodged on February 28.

Sampooran Singh, complainant and father of the victim, alleged that the accused took Rs 12 lakh for sending his son abroad. He said they met Pavitar Singh through an acquaintance. He said a deal was struck to send Gurcharan to the US, but later he expressed inability and asked to send him Canada. However, after a few days he again said Gurcharn could not go to Canada and proposed to send him to Portugal. He said his son agreed and asked him to make arrangements for the same.

He said when one month elapsed and Pavitar did not respond in a positive manner, they demanded their money back. He said in September, he took his son to Delhi where he stayed for nearly a month. From there, he was sent to Serbia where he left stranded as Pavitar’s accomplices took his passport, cash, tickets and mobiles. He said Gurcharan borrowed money from his relatives during his 15-day stay there. He borrowed money for paying to donkers for arranging his onward journey. He said he was again left in Austria by the donkers. From Austria, he somehow landed at Portugal in January this year and called his family and narrated his tale of woes.

“I borrowed money for sending my son to realize his foreign dreams little knowing that he would be caught in such life-threatening circumstances,” said Sampooran Singh.

He said following this, they lodged a complaint with the police and now a case had been registered. He urged the police authorities to nab Pavitar Singh.

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