Punjab Police Cracks Down on Illegal Travel Agents Exploiting Aspiring Youth for Overseas Jobs

In a bid to protect the youth aspiring to settle abroad from falling prey to illegal travel agents as per the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Punjab Police’s NRI Affairs Wing and Cyber Crime Wing in coordination with the Protectorate of Emigrants, Chandigarh, have booked as many as 25 travel agents in the State for illegally advertising employment opportunities on social media.

Pertinently, Protectorate of Emmigrants had red-flagged the advertising on Instagram and Facebook for jobs in foreign countries by such unscrupulous travel agencies.

ADGP NRI Affairs Praveen K Sinha on Wednesday informed that these unscrupulous travel agencies were advertising jobs abroad on Instagram and Facebook without possessing the requisite license and permissions.

“We checked the online platforms, verified their credentials covertly and registered FIRs against them,” he said, while adding that a total of 20 FIRs have been registered under sections 24/25 of the Emigration Acts in various NRI Police Stations in the state including at Amritsar, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Patiala, Sangrur and SAS Nagar.

The ADGP said that this operation specifically targeted those illegal Travel Agents, who were advertising on online platforms offering promising overseas jobs to unsuspecting victims, mostly youths, and fleecing them of their, or their parents’, hard earned money. Further investigation in on, he added.

ADGP Praveen Sinha exhorted citizens to be cautious and verify travel agents' credentials before entrusting them with documents and money. "Only engage agencies with a valid Recruiting Agent (RA) license under the Emigration Act, 1983 and always ask for the license of the Agency issued under the said Act. Verify and then trust, should be the working principle while engaging travel agents” he advised.