32 youths duped of Rs 22 lakhs with promise of volunteers job in Haj pilgrimage

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Three individuals defrauded 32 youths from the city of Rs 21.89 lakhs by promising them jobs as volunteers for the Haj pilgrimage. Initially, various reasons were cited, and then taken to Mumbai and Delhi, where they were threatened with burning their passports to collect the money from the victims.

Amjat Khaja Ashfaquddin (36, Indiranagar), who works at a washing centre, was enticed by Shaikh Qamaruddin in December 2023 with the promise of being sent as a volunteer for the Haj pilgrimage at a low cost. For this, he demanded Rs 60,000.

Amjat Khan borrowed the money from relatives and paid him. Following this, he was asked to meet Shaikh Mudassir for a COVID certificate. Mudassir extracted Rs 3,000 from Amjat under the pretext of the certificate. Next, they took him to Shastri Medical Centre in Mumbai for a medical check-up. There, they asked him to pay Rs 6,000 for a fitness certificate. Later on, Amjat was sent to Delhi for a visa. In May 2024, he reached American Plaza at Nehru Place as directed by Qamaruddin, and transferred another Rs 14,355 online. He was instructed to submit his passport to Adnan Raza standing outside the visa office.

Threatened to burn passports

After returning to the city from Delhi, the accused's behaviour changed. They demanded more money, claiming it was needed for the visa, and threatened to burn his passport if he didn't pay. In total, they defrauded him of Rs 80,355. Further investigation revealed that the same accused had defrauded 32 youths in the city, extracting nearly Rs 21.89 lakhs and confiscating their passports.

Case filed

On Wednesday, a case was registered at Jinsi police station against Shaikh Qamaruddin Shaikh Shamshuddin (49, N-13, Hudco), Shaikh Mudassir Shaikh Mohsin (35, Muzaffarnagar), and Muhammad Adnan Raza (21, resident of Uttar Pradesh). The accused left the city before the case was registered. PSI Raosaheb Kakad is investigating the case.