MAPUSA
A Delhi-based holiday tour company's attempt to dupe an elderly couple from Calangute of Rs 6 lakh under the pretext of gift vouchers and holiday packages failed, when Anjuna police froze the company’s bank account and enabled the couple get back their money.
According to information, the incident took place when the couple had purchased a car in October 2024. In April this year, they received a call from a woman claiming that they had won a gift voucher as a lucky customer.
The couple was asked to visit a hotel in Anjuna to collect the voucher. Following repeated calls from the woman, the couple went to the hotel in the last week of April.
The suspects had hired a hall in the hotel and there were many people. The woman was not there, but two men welcomed them.
Without saying anything about their gift voucher, the two persons started giving information about the company's holiday package to travel all over India and stay in luxurious hotels.
The suspects claimed there would be a membership fee of Rs 26,000 and a monthly fee of Rs 25,000 for the package.
Thinking that this holiday package would be good for their relatives who are abroad and come down to Goa, the couple decided to become members and paid Rs 25,000 as membership fee to the suspects.
At that time, the suspects asked the complainant for his credit card and later returned it. However, they did not receive the gift voucher at the hotel.
Then in May, the couple planned to visit to Dubai to see their children and called the suspects for flight tickets. However, as they did not receive any response from them, they bought their own tickets and went to Dubai.
While they were in Dubai, they found out that Rs 5.75 lakh had been withdrawn from their bank account. They immediately filed an online complaint with the bank.
On their return to Goa, they filed a written complaint with the bank in the first week of June. On realising that their money was still not returned to them, the couple went to the Anjuna police station.
Anjuna police took immediate action and froze the company’s bank account, where the money had been transferred.
When it was found that the bank account had been frozen, the police received a call from the company and promised to return the money.
Accordingly on Saturday, a representative of the company went to the Anjuna police station and returned the Rs 6 lakh to the police. The elderly couple expressed gratitude to the Anjuna police for succeeding in getting back their money.
