A 44-YEAR-OLD man from Andheri was allegedly duped of Rs 2.35 lakh under the pretext of being provided a holiday package at a cheaper rate. The police said that the man fell prey to the claims of an executive of a fake portal, which he mistook for a prominent travel agency website. Advertising The complainant, Sahadur Badlu Pal, was planning a vacation to Mussoorie, Nainital and Jim Corbett national park with his three friends and their families, when he came across the website on the Internet. In his statement to police, Pal said: “In November 2018, I, along with my friends, were planning a trip and inquired with different travel agencies. On November 29, I came across a website… I called up the customer care after getting the number from the website.” One Pankaj Kumar, posing as an executive of the travel company, offered Pal a package of 5 nights and 6 days at Rs 3.5 lakh for 17 people, including Air India flight tickets and hotel charges. The company even mailed Pal the itinerary of the trip. He complainant paid Rs 2.10 lakh in six transactions, following which, the alleged fraudster asked Pal to pay another Rs 1 lakh. “He kept insisting on payment. So, I asked him to send me vouchers of the booking… he sent me forged vouchers on December 6, 2018. Later, he again asked me to pay Rs 1 lakh, but I transferred only Rs 25,000 on December 7,” Pal told the police. Advertising “I would call him at least five times a day, but Kumar never answered. Suspecting something was wrong, I checked the official website of Air India… the tickets he had sent turned out to be forged. I then checked with the hotels, and came to know no such booking has been made,” he said.

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