Four booked for emigration scam in Punjab

MOHALI - Four Haryana-based travel agents, including two women, have been booked in Punjab for duping 21 youths of over Rs.45 lakh on the pretext of arranging lucrative jobs for them in Afghanistan, police said Wednesday.

The agents had promised the youths that jobs would be arranged in a construction company with a salary of Rs.100,000 per month. They had taken nearly Rs.45.50 lakh from the youths and the deal was struck in a hotel in Mohali town, about 10 km from Chandigarh.

“The agents provided passports and visas to the youths. But after reaching Afghanistan, they found that there were no arrangements of jobs for them. Then one of the youth called his father, a resident of Patiala town, and apprised him about the situation,” Gurnam Singh, investigation officer of the case, told IANS.

“We received a complaint yesterday (Tuesday) and on the basis of our preliminary investigation, we have registered a case against the four persons. We are recording the statements of the complainants and collecting the necessary evidence.”

All the youths are in the age group of 22 to 28 years and a majority of them are from Punjab’s Patiala district.

The accused were identified as Baldev Singh, his wife Neeta Rani, Lakhwinder Singh and Jogindera Devi. They are residents of Pheowa town in Haryana’s Kurukshetra district.

A police source said similar complaints against Baldev and Lakhwinder were received earlier also.