New Delhi, Jun 18 (PTI) A man has been arrested for allegedly duping a Mumbai resident of about Rs 2 lakh under the pretext of providing a visa and a flight ticket to Australia, an official said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Kuldeep Singh, a native of Punjab, ran a fake travel agency page on social media titled 'Fly to Abroad' and lured victims by offering visas to foreign countries at lower rates, police said.
"The victim, Khemchand Borwal, came in contact with the accused posing as Gurjeet Kaur on social media and promised him a visa to Australia without any advance payment. The victim later shared his passport photograph and received a fake visa," Additional Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport), Usha Rangnani said.
She said that Borwal was then called to Terminal 3 of IGI Airport on June 6 with the money. After collecting the amount, Singh told the complainant to wait while he fetched a boarding pass and currency declaration slip, but never returned, the Additional CP said.
The complainant later found that both the visa and ticket were fake. A police team scanned CCTV footage and conducted raids in Punjab based on the victim's input, but the accused remained untraceable.
He was later arrested from Chennai.
During interrogation, Singh told the police that after duping Borwal, he travelled to Bangkok and Malaysia and spent the defrauded money on leisure and entertainment, Rangnani said.
He revealed that he used to work with fraudulent travel agents in Mumbai and when he returned to Punjab, he started his own agency. He created fake documents and defrauded people under the guise of overseas travel arrangements, Rangnani added.
Further investigation in the case is underway, police added.