Kapurthala man abducted, duped of ₹7L by travel agent

CANADIAN DREAMS CRASHED The agent kept him hostage for over 20 days, made him call his parents and tell them pay money

TRAVEL AGENT ARRESTED; POLICE ON LOOKOUT FOR HIS ACCOMPLICES

KAPURTHALA: A 37-year-old resident of Kapurthala, who aspired for a better life in Canada, was duped and abducted by travel agent on the promise of sending him abroad.

The complainant, Dinesh Kumar, a resident of Kapurthala, said that last September, the accused Jatinder Singh of Guru Nanak Nagar, Kapurthala, asked him to come to Delhi with 1,000 dollars in Canadian currency.

From there, he was asked to reach Mumbai and subsequently Bangalore, from where he was abducted and kept hostage for 20 days.

The complainant said that the accused put a gun on his head and forced him to call his parents and tell them that he had reached Canada safely and that they should pay ₹7 lakh as the first instalment to the travel agent. After the victim’s parents paid the amount, the accused let him go.

After returning home, the victim narrated his ordeal to his family, following which they approached the Kapurthala police in October last year.

After conducting an inquiry in the case, the city police on Tuesday arrested travel agent Jatinder Singh and booked him and his associates under Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 342 (wrongful confinement), 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code and under relevant Sections of the Punjab Travel Professionals' Regulation Act.

Assistant sub-inspector Satnam Singh, an investigating officer in the case, said, “The victim told us that he was kept in a house in Bangalore with the aid of the travel agent and was not allowed to even move around.”

The travel agent’s accomplices are yet to nabbed.