Visa agent dupes 11 applicants of Rs 39.22L

Vadodara: A 23-year-old student registered a complaint of cheating against three people after his visa was rejected and Rs 3.96 lakh which he had paid to them was not returned. Police investigations revealed that the accused had swindled off over Rs 39 lakh from several other applicants.

Shreyas Patel, a resident of Manjalpur, told police in his complaint that he wanted to go to the US for further studies and contacted his friend Hetav Patel in December 2015. Hetav told him that his uncle and aunt Shailesh Patel and Neha Patel run a visa consultancy firm at Sampatrao Colony in Jetalpur. When Shreyas went there, the manager named Jignesh asked him to pay Rs 3.96 lakh, which he paid through cheque. However, Shreyas's application was cancelled and he asked Jigensh to return his money. Initially, Jignesh did not respond to him and later flatly refused to return the money.

In April this year, Jignesh asked Shreyas to collect the cheque but he was never given. Later, Shreyas gave a complaint to the police against Shailesh, Neha and Jignesh. When cops initiated investigation, it was learnt that 10 other persons, who had applied through Shailesh's firm, had lost Rs 39.22 lakh.