Travel agent from city dupes Rajasthan man of Rs 35,000
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, August 5
The tourist police in Kashmir is investigating a complaint by a man from Rajasthan’s Udaipur that he was duped of Rs 35,000 by a travel agent from Srinagar, who had registered a travel agency with the J&K Tourism Department in his wife’s name.
The court has also rejected the interim bail of accused Umar Shah hailing from the HMT locality of Srinagar as the preliminary investigation by the police has found that Shah had registered his travel agency ‘Al-Shama Travels’ with the Tourism Department and duped Ajit Kumar of Udaipur of Rs 35,000.
“As per the case, the accused has not cooperated with the investigation of the case and as such he has violated the terms and conditions of the bail order dated May 23, 2018. The offences committed by the accused are of such nature in which he is required for custodial interrogation,” 3rd Additional Sessions Judge Srinagar said in his orders made available on Sunday, while “withdrawing and rejecting” the interim bail dated May 23, 2018, granted to the accused. It further directed that the SHO concerned was informed accordingly as the accused was needed for custodial interrogation as was argued by Bilquees Mushtaq Zargar, additional public prosecutor.
As told by Kumar in his complaint to the J&K tourist police, he had transferred Rs 35,000 into the account of ‘Al-Shama Travels’ on April 18, 2018, as he and his family intended to visit Kashmir as tourists and had accordingly booked two packages worth Rs 5,700 with the accused.
When Kumar called the accused travel agent after depositing the advance amount, he got no response, following which he was prompted to lodge a formal complaint with the Tourism Department. A case was registered with the Police Station Tourist Reception Centre, Srinagar, under the Tourist Trade Act. The investigation has also revealed that two other cases involving fraud and cheating are already registered against the accused.
Interim bail rejected
Ajit Kumar of Udaipur, Rajasthan, in his complaint to the J&K tourist police, said he had transferred Rs 35,000 into the account of ‘Al-Shama Travels’ on April 18 as he and his family intended to visit Kashmir and had accordingly booked two packages with the accused. When Kumar called accused travel agent Umar Shah after depositing the advance amount, he received no response, following which he was prompted to lodge a formal complaint with the Tourism Department. In court orders made available on Sunday, the interim bail granted to the accused on May 23 was withdrawn and rejected.
