Pune: Travel firm staffers booked for duping tourists of Rs 11.75 lakh

PUNE: Two staffers of a travel firm were booked on Monday on the charges of duping a 23-year-old businessman of Rs 11.75 lakh on the pretext of booking flight tickets for his friends to Thailand between late last year and May 29, 2019.
Arvindkumar Khanayalal Mali of Lonkar Vasti in Yeolewadi has lodged an FIR under sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code with the Kondhwa police in this regard.
Mali had contacted the suspects after coming across an advertisement for group bookings last year. “After consulting his friends, Mali planned a trip to Thailand. He then finalized the package with the travel firm and asked his 40 friends to contribute their individual share for purchasing the flight tickets accordingly,” assistant inspector DK Pawar of the Kondhwa police said.
The officer said Mali collected Rs 11.75 lakh from his friends and handed over the money to the firm officials for booking flight tickets to Thailand via Mumbai.
The firm officials assured Mali of obtaining confirmed tickets for Mumbai-Bangkok and Bangkok-Thailand flights and vice-versa. “As per the given date and time, the tourists reached the Mumbai airport for boarding the flight but they were shocked to learn that the firm had procured confirmed tickets of only five passengers, instead of 40,” Pawar said.
Mali and his friends then sought explanation from the firm officials as well the amount paid to the company. Though the officials promised to return the money, they kept delaying it, citing various problems. Finally, Mali and his friends filed a complaint application against the officials around two months ago.
Pawar said, “We conducted a preliminary inquiry and asked the officials to join in the investigations, but they failed to turn up. We then submitted a report to our superiors and sought their permission for registering the FIR.”
A police team on visiting the firm found that the officials had closed down the office and their whereabouts were not known.