BHUBANESWAR: Cyber frauds have allegedly duped a travel agency owner of Rs 72 lakh on the pretext of facilitating tickets, visa and hotel booking for around 112 people for Umrah pilgrimage at a discounted rate.
The matter came to light after the owner of the travel agency Md Salman lodged a complaint in this regard with Cyber police. Salman, who runs the travel agency in Unit IV area of the city, said he had collected money from 112 people to take them to Saudi Arabia for Umrah pilgrimage in two phases.
“While searching for a Saudi Arabia-based travel agency for visa processing and hotel bookings, I came in contact with a person who promised to provide all facilities at a discounted rate,” he said. Trusting him, Salman reportedly paid the money and reached Mumbai airport with a batch in September. However, he then found that neither the tickets and visas had been arranged nor hotels booked for the pilgrims.
Left with no other option, he has now approached the Cyber police station and filed a complaint. The travel agency owner said he was forced to sell gold and other valuables from his home to refund the money to those affected.