The Economic Offence Wing of the Odisha Police arrested a person from Mumbai for allegedly cheating Rs 1.20 crore from 189 people of the state, promising them the Haj pilgrimage, according to an official statement issued on Monday.
The accused was arrested in the western metropolis on September 27 and brought to Bhubaneswar on transit remand, it said.
The arrest was made based on a written complaint filed by one Mir Khursid of the Dhamnagar area in Bhadrak district.
According to the complaint, two Mumbai-based tour and travel agencies had allegedly collected Rs 1.20 crore from 189 prospective Haj pilgrims during the 2019-23 period to arrange for their pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
They collected the money under two tour packages of Rs 45,786 and Rs 50,786 per individual and the proprietors went on deferring the date of pilgrimage over the years, the statement said.
Subsequently, the proprietors closed down their office and could not be contacted via mobile phones, it said.
The prospective Haj pilgrims found them missing, the statement said.
The travel agencies neither took the prospective pilgrims to Saudi Arabia nor did they refund the amount, the police statement said.
The economic offence wing has seized mobile phones, money receipts and cheques during the investigation, it added.
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