Travel agent decamps with 'Umrah Package'

A travel agency owner allegedly absconded with millions of rupees collected from citizens who wished to perform Umrah during Ramazan, prompting an investigation by the Federal Investigation Agency.

According to details, fraudulent activities by unregistered private Hajj and Umrah operators operating under the guise of travel agencies continue to surface. In the latest case, four friends from Hyderabad planned to perform Umrah in the holy month of Ramazan. For this purpose, they contacted a private Hajj and Umrah services provider in Karachi after seeing a Ramazan promotional offer on social media.

Following a telephone conversation with the agency's owner, identified as Abdullah, the friends transferred large sums of money to his bank account. Initially, they deposited Rs400,000 and later transferred an additional Rs300,000 online.

However, after receiving the payments, the travel agency owner allegedly shut down his office and disappeared. When the victims tried to contact him, he first avoided answering calls and later switched off his mobile phone. Upon visiting the office in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, they found it locked.

The affected citizens, including Ali Nawaz Khaskheli and Zulfiqar Ali, submitted a written complaint to the FIA Hyderabad office. Acting promptly, Additional Director FIA Hyderabad Zone Syed Muhammad Wasi Haider ordered an inquiry and appointed ASI Imran Khan of the Crime Circle Hyderabad as the inquiry officer.