Travel agent arrested for fraud

HYDERABAD: A 48-year-old man was arrested by the city’s Task Force for cheating unemployed city youth with dreams of ‘settling’ them abroad. Acting on a tip-off, police arrested and interrogated him, when he confessed to all the crimes.

A foreign-return himself, V Gangadhar, posed as a travel agent with ‘connections’ in countries like Israel, Jordan, Ecuador and promised the innocent youngsters of jobs that paid in US Dollars. Convinced, the boys would pay him anywhere between `4-5 lakhs based on their financial capabilities. In collaboration with the owner of Delhi-based Indo Israel Travels, he would book fake air tickets, documentations and hotel invitation letters for the young lads. In the raid on his office, police found fake passports, PAN cards and cash worth `8.6 lakh.

When the truth of his ‘documents’ came out, Gangadhar resorted to switching the sim cards and off all his mobile phones.With at least six offences reported by him, Gangadhar carried out his illicit activities in Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Abids, Karimnagar.

Addressing the media on Monday, Hyderabad police commissioner, Anjani Kumar, said further that Gangadhar migrated to Sharjah where he did odd jobs and then travelled to Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Qatar, Bangkok, Behrain, Zordan as well as Indonesia. Finding it hard to make a living, he returned to India with a simpler way of earning money, he told the police.