Bhubaneswar (Odisha): The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Police arrested a person in Mumbai on accusations of duping numerous Muslim devotees out of more than Rs 1 crore under the guise of providing a cheap, secure, and safe Umrah pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, according to a senior EOW official here on Monday.
On September 27, Odisha Police nabbed the accused, Nabeel Abdul Mubin Shaikh. He was later brought before a municipal court in Andheri, Mumbai, and transferred to Odisha on transit remand.
On September 12, the EOW registered a case against the proprietors of ‘Al-Adam Tour & Travels’, including the accused, Nabeel, his mother, Firdos Bi Abdul Mubin Shaikh and sister, Saima Anjum Shaikh, and one of their partners, Md. Bismillah Shaikh, the proprietor of Al-Izma Tours & Travels of Vikhroli Kurla, West Mumbai, based on a complaint lodged by Mir Khursid of Kazimahala under Dhamnagar police limits of Bhadrak district.
Khurshid, the accused proprietors of the tour businesses, collected Rs 1.2 crores from 189 devotees between 2019 and 2023 to arrange their pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia on the eve of Umrah. However, they did not take prospective pilgrims on pilgrimage, nor did they return the money collected from them.
“As found on the investigation, during the period from 2019-23, the accused proprietors of M/s Al-Adam Tour & Travel Agency floated advertisements in social media apart from distributing leaflets containing the lucrative packages, contact details, etc,” said EOW sources.
The accused induced the Muslim devotees to avail the opportunity under two of their tour packages of Rs 45,786 and Rs 50,786 per individual pilgrim to go on Umrah pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
Subsequently, several devotees of Bhadrak, Balasore, Baripada and other parts of Odisha deposited their respective amounts in accounts mentioned in the advertisements through bank transfers, in UPI and even by cash.
“The arrested accused, Nabeel, and his mother are the authorised signatories of the accounts in which the pilgrims’ money has been deposited. The collection of money from devotees by the accused persons continued till the first half of 2023, after which the proprietors switched off their mobile phones and remained disconnected from the depositors,” informed EOW sources.
The accused proprietors also provided cheques to a few investors, but the bank later dishonoured them.
The sleuths also learned that the tour packages cover the catering facilities extended by the Pakistani nationals, for which there was a transaction between the Pakistani nationals and the arrested accused, which is still under verification, said EOW sources.
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–IANS
