Woman travel agent absconding in Rs 35 lakh travel fraud case held

The Ludhiana rural police have arrested a woman in connection with a fraud of Rs 35 lakh on the pretext of sending a complainant abroad. The woman accused had been absconding for three years. Two people, including a woman, had duped a retired Army man by promising him a trip to Canada.

Jagraon City SHO Inspector Varinder Uppal said efforts were on to nab the remaining accused.

According to the information, the woman has been identified as Rupinder Kaur, a resident of Bangsipura Sidhwan Bet village. The case dates back to 2022, when Avtar Singh, a resident of Sheikhupura village, had filed a complaint, stating that Rupinder Kaur and Balveer Singh, a former soldier from Kokri Butra village in Moga, lured him into sending him to Canada. Both of them took Rs 35 lakh but none of them did the work.

As soon as a fraud case was registered at the Jagraon City police station, both the accused absconded. Rupinder applied for bail in the Sessions Court and then in the high court. After her bail was rejected from both the places, she absconded. The court had also declared both the accused as proclaimed offenders.

On Friday, the police had received information that Rupinder has come to her house. The team took immediate action and arrested her. The police produced the accused in a court, which remand her to five days’ police remand. The police are interrogating the accused to know the whereabouts of Balveer Singh.

Retired Army man Avtar Singh was duped of Rs 35 lakh on the pretext of sending him to Canada. Accused Balveer Singh has also retired from the Army. He had retired in 2019. Following this, he opened an IELTS centre and started sending people abroad. Avtar Singh retired in 2020. He met Balveer in 2021. He had assured the victim that he would definitely send him to Canada.

After paying a total of Rs 35 lakh, the accused stopped picking up his calls. Then, Avtar realised that he had been duped. Following the complaint, the police investigated and registered against former soldier Balveer and manager Rupinder.