Pilgrimage fraud: Family cheated of 14 lakh

Gurgaon: A man was duped of Rs 14 lakh on the pretext of Char Dham Yatra, police said on Wednesday. The complainant, identified as Bhagwati Prasad, a resident of Udyog Vihar Phase 3, had gone on a Char Dham Yatra in 2018, where he met the accused, Deep Kamal, who had introduced himself as a tour guide.
Prasad contacted Kamal after his family decided to go to Char Dham in April 2022.
“Kamal had asked me to get in touch for trips in the future. The first batch of our family, six members, was supposed to visit Kedarnath and Badrinath, while the second batch with four members was to visit all the four dhams,” Prasad told the cops. Kamal had sent an itinerary and the first batch was scheduled to leave on May 31 and the second batch on April 3. Kamal asked us to pay Rs 1,75,000 per person. Both batches together paid Rs 14,00,000 before the trip and promised to pay the rest after completing it.
On May 31, Kamal made excuses saying that the chartered plane was grounded and they will have to wait for a few days, after which Kamal’s phone was switched off. “On reaching Dehradun, the first batch visited the travel company’s office. They failed to recognise Kamal and said they have not received any booking,” said Prasad, adding that they informed the police on August 5.
An FIR has been lodged at Udyog Vihar under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating and dishonesty inducing delivery of property).