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Duped Punjab youth lands in Iran kidnappers' Net

Hoshiarpur, May 28 (UNI) Lured by the prospect of a high-paying job abroad, a youth from a village near Hoshiarpur ended up being kidnapped in Iran after allegedly being duped by local travel agents, his family has alleged.
According to a complaint lodged with the Model Town Police Station, 23-year-old Amritpal Singh of Bhagowal village was kidnapped while in Iran earlier this month, just days after he left for Australia via a
route arranged by Hoshiarpur-based travel agents.
Talking to media persons, Amritpal’s mother Gurdeep Kaur said her son had been working at the Sonalika factory after completing Class 12. He was allegedly lured by local travel agents—identified as Dheeraj Atwal, Kamal Atwal (both residents of Piplanwala), and Savita Soya of Hoshiarpur—who promised to send him to Australia on a work visa for Rs 18 lakh.
She said the agents collected her son’s passport and other essential documents, assuring them that the visa would arrive within 10 days. On April 22, the agents informed the family that the visa had been approved and asked them to arrange the money, saying Amritpal would fly directly to Australia from Delhi on April 26.
Gurdeep Kaur said she managed to collect the money from relatives, and the family paid Rs 18 lakh
to the agents in cash and through digital transactions in multiple installments. On April 25, she accompanied her son to a Delhi hotel provided by the agents. The agent present there told them that
the flight had been cancelled and rescheduled for April 29. Again, on April 29, the flight was cancelled, and the agent informed them that Amritpal would now travel to Australia via Iran.
The agent then handed over a ticket from Delhi to Iran, saying a hotel had been arranged for a brief
stay and that Amritpal would proceed to Australia from there.
On May 1, Gurdeep Kaur’s nephew Yudhveer Singh accompanied Amritpal to Delhi airport. Amritpal, along with two other youths, Husanpreet Singh of Dhuri (Sangrur) and Jaspal Singh of Langroya (SBS Nagar), departed for Iran that day.
At around 2:30 am on May 2, Amritpal called Yudhveer to confirm that he had reached Iran safely. However, an hour later, he called again and said that he, along with the two other youths, had been taken hostage by unidentified persons. “He claimed the kidnappers had a monetary dispute with the travel agents who sent them and demanded that we ask our agents to transfer the money. They said
the youths would be released only after the money was received,” Gurdeep Kaur said in the FIR.
She further claimed that the kidnappers later sent video calls to the families, showing the youths being beaten and threatened. The abductors allegedly demanded Rs 54 lakh, Rs 18 lakh for each youth—through the money transfer service MoneyGram for their safe release.
Gurdeep Kaur said when the family approached the travel agents about the abduction, one of them initially claimed he would go to Iran himself to bring the youths back safely. “But when we tried to contact him again, his phone was switched off, and we found his house and office locked,” she said.
According to her, the kidnappers initially demanded Rs1 crore for the release of the youths, then raised it to Rs1.5 crore. After the families expressed their inability to arrange the money, the abductors brought the demand down to Rs 54 lakh. “When we told them we were ready to pay,
they sent a bank account number. We later found out it was a Pakistani account,” she said.
She alleged that the travel agents had hatched a well-planned conspiracy to deceive the youths
and extort more money by orchestrating their kidnapping in Iran.
Mother Kaur, a homemaker who also does occasional stitching work, said her husband Joginder Singh, a former migrant worker in Dubai, is now engaged in farming. Their younger son, Sehajpal Singh (20), who had gone to Dubai three months ago, recently returned home after learning of his elder brother’s kidnapping.
She urged the Government of India to take immediate steps to ensure the safe return of her son
and his companions and demanded strict action against the accused travel agents.
Model Town Police Station SHO, SI Gursahib Singh said efforts were being made to nab the accused travel agents and that raids were being conducted to trace them.
The case has been registered under FIR No. 109, invoking Sections 143 (trafficking of person), 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and Section 13 of the Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act.
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Tags: #Duped Punjab youth lands in Iran kidnappers' Net
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