Man booked for allegedly cheating Umrah group, sending fake visas of Mecca and causing loss of ₹10 lakh

The Airport police in Ahmedabad have registered a cheating and criminal intimidation case against an city travel facilitator for allegedly duping a Morbi man and 33 others of lakhs of rupees by promising Umrah visas, sending fake visa documents and causing losses exceeding ₹10 lakh in flight bookings.

According to police, the accused, identified as Mohammed Junaid Mohammed Yusuf Sheikh, a resident of Juhapura in Ahmedabad, allegedly took ₹4.65 lakh from the complainant, Sarfaraz Alarkhabhai Dalwani, 26, for arranging visas for a group of 34 persons travelling to Mecca and Medina for Umrah in 2025.

Morbi resident Dalwani in his complaint stated that he had first come into contact with Sheikh in 2022 after the latter had successfully arranged visas for another religious tour group. Based on that prior interaction, Dalwani claimed he trusted Sheikh to organise visas for his family members and associates.

Police said the complainant booked air tickets worth ₹10.24 lakh for the group after the accused allegedly assured him that the visas would be processed within a few days.

However, despite repeated assurances, the visas were not delivered before the scheduled departure date. On the day of travel, Sheikh allegedly sent PDF copies of visas for 12 passengers via WhatsApp, which airport officials at Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport purportedly found to be fake.

The complainant further alleged that Sheikh continued to delay the matter with fresh assurances and later sent additional visa documents after the original travel plans had collapsed, forcing the group to incur further expenditure on rebooking flights.

Dalwani also alleged that while the group later travelled for Umrah, Sheikh demanded an additional ₹1.5 lakh over WhatsApp call and threatened that they would “not be able to leave the airport” if the money was not paid.

Police said the complainant delayed filing the FIR as he had been attempting to settle the matter amicably with the accused, but approached authorities after no resolution was reached.

An investigation has been initiated into the allegations of cheating, forgery and criminal intimidation.