12 unregistered travel agents booked as crackdown goes on

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 16

Tightening the noose around those running unregistered travel agencies and IELTS coaching centres in the city, the police have booked 12 more persons. Earlier, the police have booked 11 persons for running such agencies without getting mandatory registration from the district administration under the Punjab Travel Professional Regulation Act 2012. The district administration has a number of times asked such agencies to get licensed for the same, but agencies continue to operate illegally.

In the past, several travel agents have fled after duping gullible people on the pretext of getting them settled abroad. Though owners and employees of such agencies were later booked, hardly any arrest has been made. Last week, the Ranjit Avenue police nabbed a person for fraud. Significantly, the police have booked the owners who have been running such agencies in rented accommodations.

In the fresh case, Jai Vardhan Talwar of Mani Majra, Gurmeet Singh of Paharganj, Swami Ramtirath Nagar, Central Delhi, Krishna Sharma of SAS Nagar, Mani Sharma of Bank Avenue, Majitha Road, Jaswinder Singh of Majitha, Mulaska Parambhil Chakku of Kerala who runs an agency at Kabir Park, Princepal of Kotli Nasir Khan, Kanchan of Gilwali Gate, Navdeep Singh, Megha Gandhi of New Dashmesh Nagar, Amritpal Singh of old vegetable market, Chheharta, and Sandeep Singh of Baba Jeewan Singh Nagar have been booked. Further probe has been marked to Assistant Commissioner of Police Licensing in this connection.

According to anti-human trafficking officials, out of 50 travel agencies and IELTS coaching centres running in the area under the Islamabad police station, only 29 have applied for the licence. Others have ignored the directions so far.

Meanwhile, the Amritsar rural police have booed Nirmal Singh, his son Jugraj Singh and wife Raj Kaur, all residents of Jhanjoti village, for allegedly duping Sardool Singh of the same village. The complainant had approached the IG office in April last year. He stated that the accused took Rs 5 lakh from him in 2017 for sending him abroad, but they neither kept their promise nor returned the money.

A case under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered against them. No arrest has been made till now.