PHAGWARA: The Sultanpur Lodhi police have registered a case under Sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 13 of the Punjab Travel Professionals Regulation Act, 2014, on the complaint of Jagtar Singh, a resident of village Jainpur, Sultanpur Lodhi.
The case has been registered against Joga Singh, a resident of village Masitan under Sultanpur Lodhi police station, his wife Jaswinder Kaur, and Jagjeet Singh Bhullar, a resident of Sangat Singh Nagar under Police Station Division No. 1, Jalandhar. The accused have been booked for allegedly duping the complainant of ₹44.15 lakh on the pretext of sending him to the United States.
According to the complaint, the accused, who are relatives of the complainant, were allegedly involved in sending people abroad illegally under the guise of running a travel agency. Jagtar Singh stated that Joga Singh claimed to have strong links for legally sending people to the United States and assured him that he could arrange direct travel to the USA, claiming he already had an “arrangement” in place.
Trusting these assurances, the complainant entered into an agreement with the accused in July 2024 to be sent to the United States for a total amount of ₹50 lakh. The accused allegedly assured him that the payment would be taken only after the visa was granted. Later, Joga Singh reportedly informed the complainant that his visa had been approved and even showed him a copy of the visa. On this pretext, the accused allegedly demanded money and, through different means, collected a total amount of ₹44.15 lakh from him.
The complainant further alleged that instead of being sent to the United States, he was illegally taken to Mexico, where he was kept under distressing conditions for about four months. He was subsequently sent to a camp and, after around seven months, was deported. Jagtar Singh returned to India on July 18, 2025.
After his return, the complainant approached the accused seeking a refund of the money. However, they allegedly refused to return the amount, following which he approached the police. After conducting a preliminary inquiry, the police registered the case for further investigation.
Police officials said that the matter is under investigation and appropriate legal action will be taken based on the findings.