Delhi Police bust gang duping people with fake low-cost flight ticket offers, 2 arrested

Delhi Police claimed to have busted a gang of cyber fraudsters who duped people on the pretext of providing cheap flight tickets, arrested two persons from Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, an official said on Friday.

The accused have been identified as Tanuj Agarwal (28), a tour and travel operator from Dehradun, and Tanveer (30), a resident of Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, who was in contact with some Chinese nationals on a messaging app, police said.

“The case came to light after a complainant Dikson Singh from Civil Lines area, alleged that he lost Rs 50,000 while trying to book low-cost flight tickets for his family to Kerala,” a senior police officer said.

The complainant said that he had come across an online advertisement offering discounted tickets and was tricked into transferring the money after clicking on a fraudulent payment link, he said.

A case was registered at the Cyber police station in north district and a probe was launched, the officer said. During investigation, police found that the complainant’s money was transferred into a bank account of UTM Tourism Services Pvt Ltd, operated by Agarwal. He was arrested from Dehradun’s Sahastradhara Road area on September 16, he added.

Agarwal revealed that he had given his account to Tanveer, who was in contact with some Chinese nationals on a messaging app. On Tanveer’s insistence, Agarwal allowed the use of his account in exchange for Rs 65,000, police said.

The officer said Tanveer was tracked to Deoband and arrested on September 18. During interrogation, he told police that he had been supplying bank account details to foreign handlers through the messaging app in return for Rs 1 to 1.5 lakh per account.

Also Read: Over 17,000 fire calls made to DFS, Delhi’s 24 locations sit on timebombs

“Verification revealed that at least 25 complaints of cyber fraud across different states are linked to this account,” the officer added.

Police recovered a cheque book in the name of UTM Tourism Services Pvt Ltd and two mobile phones from the accused. Further investigation is underway to identify the foreign handlers and trace the money trail, police said.