KADAPA: As police continues investigation into allegations that KSS travel agency duped Umrah pilgrimage aspirants, it was found that around 800 people from Proddatur town alone were cheated by the agency. Some organisers of the tour, who were planning to flee the country, have been arrested in Bengaluru, it is learnt.
Kadapa police, who are investigating the case, said some of the victims sensed foul play when the travel agency, after collecting money, started postponing the pilgrimage dates. Sources said that a travel agency used to collect `70,000 from pilgrims for Umrah during the month of Ramzan. However, KSS Travel Agency attracted people by offering the tour at just Rs 35,000-Rs 45,000. Amid pressure from those who had paid money for the tour, the operators at the agency started rescheduling it and also were planning to flee the country, police said.
“Some tour operators, who work for the agency, tipped us off that some key accused are planning to flee the country. With that information, we nabbed them in Bengaluru,’’ a senior official said. The organisers were also fearing attacks from those who had paid for the trip. Meanwhile, the number of victims approaching the police has been on the rise with each passing day. Proddatur DSP Srinivas Rao said there could be 800 victims in the town alone.
Meanwhile, police officials, who are inspecting records of the agency and its branches in Maharashtra, Telangana, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, are likely to form a special team to investigate the case.