A charge sheet has been filed in the court of district Reasi in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday against seven persons involved in selling fake helicopter tickets online to Mata Vaishno Devi devotees. Police say that after registering a case in this regard, four accused were arrested from Rajasthan in March, while three were arrested from Bihar in May this month. All these people were duping Mata Vaishno Devi devotees of lakhs by selling fake helicopter tickets online.
The police spokesperson also informed that during the investigation several fake websites were also identified and blocked. The Katra police have filed a charge sheet by registering two cases under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act against the seven accused arrested in this case. The accused have been identified as Sunil Chawla, Monu Pankaj, Deepak Kumar and Gajanand Meghwal from Rajasthan while Ashok Kumar Sharma alias Mistry, Lakhpati Paswan and Santosh Kumar from Bihar.
All these people have registered separate cases against them on the basis of complaints of fake online Shri Mata Vaishno Devi helicopter ticket booking. These cases had come to the fore earlier this year when pilgrims visiting the yatra told that they had booked helicopter tickets online but they were not being allowed to go on the yatra. When the matter escalated, when the police investigated it, it was found that all these tickets were booked from fake online websites.
The spokesman said that after the registration of the case, special teams were formed under the supervision of Katra SP Amit Bhasin. The websites were checked and teams were sent to different parts of the country to nab the accused involved in the crime. Police teams raided suspicious places in Rajasthan and Bihar and arrested a total of seven accused. The police have also seized objectionable material from their possession. All the accused were brought to Katra on transit remand.