5 travel agents booked for duping youth of Rs 30 lakh

The Sriganganagar police in Rajasthan have lodged a case against five Punjab-based travel agents for allegedly duping a youth of around Rs 30 lakh by promising immigration to Australia through a legal pathway.

The youth, identified as Lovepreet Singh of Kotha village in Sriganganagar, remained stuck for 70 days in Vietnam. The accused were identified as Taranvir Singh Randhawa, Amanvir Singh, Gurpreet Kaur, Sonu Singh — all residents of Jalandhar — and Sukhwinder Singh of Amritsar. Lovepreet said after passing Class 12, he wanted to go to New Zealand on a study visa. For this, he contacted a Jalandhar-based immigration agency.

They prepared his documents and processed his study visa file, but it was rejected. He said Taranvir Singh, who worked at the agency, got him in touch with Amanvir Singh and Gurpreet Kaur. They promised him to send him to Australia on a holiday visa, promising to help him in converting it into a work visa on reaching that country.

For this, he was to be first sent to Vietnam. The complainant alleged that he paid Rs 29.50 lakh to the agents.