Mumbai: Father, son booked for cheating Hajj pilgrims

Victims Sharafat Ehsanmulla Hussain and his wife; (centre) victims Mohammad Sikandar Khan and his wife; (right) Shirazullah Mallick, a victim

The Naya Nagar police are looking for a father-son duo accused of cheating three families of Rs 36 lakh under the guise of facilitating their Hajj pilgrimage. This isn't their first offence - in 2019 they had allegedly cheated 10 members of a family of Rs 24 lakh with the false promise of facilitating Hajj pilgrimage for them. They were subsequently jailed for the fraud.

The accused persons have been identified as Ashfaque Ahmed Qureshi and Hannan Qureshi. They run the Hajj and Umrah tour and travel office Al-Ansar at Crystal Plaza, opposite Mira Road Railway Station, Thane.

The Case

One of the victims, Sharafat Ehsanmulla Hussain,63, a resident of Orchid Jahangir Enclave in Mira Road, was planning to perform Hajj with his wife this year. He had applied for the Hajj through the government quota and was awaiting the lottery results when he met Ashfaque Qureshi through a common friend outside a mosque near his residence. His friend vouched for Qureshi's services, convincing Hussain to trust him. Subsequently, he transferred Rs 10 lakh to two people, including his wife. The accused even handed over Hajj kit (bags) and promised tickets for the final flight in June this year.

However, the day before departure, Hussain was shocked when Qureshi stopped answering his calls. "If I had known about this fraudulent activity, I would have gone through the government quota for Hajj," Hussain told mid-day. "We kept asking the accused to return our money, but he kept delaying. We had no choice but to seek police help. That's when we found out he had duped many people in 2019 as well."

Ashfaque Ahmed Qureshi, the accused

The other victims

Mohammed Sikandar Khan, a retired Indian Railways employee, had planned his Hajj trip this year with his wife through Qureshi's company. After paying Rs 10 lakh to Qureshi, Khan also applied through the government's Hajj department. He got selected through government quota for which he paid Rs 4.52 lakh to the Hajj committee. He conveyed this development to Qureshi and sought for a refund. Qureshi assured him of a refund, but never returned the money. Khan missed his chance to go on Hajj due to the failure to get his refund.

Another victim, Shirazullah Mallick, a 49-year-old software engineer, wanted to take his elderly mother and wife on the pilgrimage this year. He had initially intended to go with a Nalasopara-based tour company but switched to the Qureshi's company after being offered a Rs 1.5 lakh discount. He transferred Rs 17.50 lakh to Qureshi. The software engineer realised he was cheated when the tour didn't materialise. "When we went to the Qureshi's house to ask him to return our money, he went to the police station and filed a case against us for making noise at his house," said the victim. "He doesn't pick up our calls or return our money. Later, we found out that he had taken money from many others, too."

It has become clear that this father-son duo has been running the same scam since 2019. The victims have demanded stringent legal action against them. The police are now actively investigating the case and collecting evidence.

In the 2019 cheating case, Qureshi and his two sons had been granted bail by the High Court on the condition that they return the money to the victims. However, as Qureshi failed to fulfill this commitment the High Court revoked his bail about 15 days ago. Qureshi and his sons have been absconding since then. In the meantime, another case was registered against Qureshi yesterday. We are actively searching for the accused, said Vilas Supe, senior police inspector of Naya Nagar police station.

Exercise caution

"Recently, there has been a rise in scams where men operating fake travel agencies are deceiving people under the guise of arranging Hajj and Umrah tours. Stay vigilant to avoid falling victim to such frauds," said Mohammed Arif Siddique, social activist from Mira Road.