Fake website of Pawanhans travels: Booked helicopter ride for pilgrimage sites
Aurangabad:
Around 70 devotees from Aurangabad district were duped for Rs 6 lakh after they booked online helicopter service to Kedarnath, Badrinath and other pilgrimage sites through a fake website of Pawanhans Travels Company in Uttarkashi. The fraud was revealed after the devotees reached Guptkashi and enquired with the company.
According to information, 70 people from Aurangabad, Jalna, Shrirampur and Vaijapur booked helicopter tickets through Pawanhans travels website. The agent sent two tickets and a confirmation message on WhatsApp. One of the pilgrims sent the tickets to one of his friends in Guptkashi to check if the tickets were genuine. Those tickets were found genuine. So all remaining pilgrims paid Rs 6 lakh online. But when the pilgrims reached Dehradun and inquired with Pawanhans office, they were told that the company had no record of their names and no tickets. Devotees from other states including Haryana also faced a similar situation. The pilgrims then reported the matter to Manoj Bora and other friends and family members. He then informed the minister of cooperation Atul Save and union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Karad. They tried to help the pilgrims for their further journey.
Take precaution while booking online
One of the pilgrims, Girish Pandey who lives in N-3 Cidco, said that 70 people had booked the tickets as they found two tickets to be genuine. The remaining tickets were promised to be given at the company's counter in Dehradun, but on reaching there we realized that we were cheated. Pawanhans company has also lodged a complaint with the local police. Henceforth, Pandey urged the citizens to take precaution while booking tickets online.