Delhi man dupes travellers, airlines using forged death certificates; arrested

According to the police, Sharma’s alleged modus operandi involved getting crucial documentation from his customers, along with their financial details like credit card CVVs, on the pretext of booking their flight tickets. Once the tickets were booked, Sharma would use the documents to forge the death certificates of the travellers and obtain a full refund from the airlines, the police said. His ‘call centre employees’ would then call the customers and tell them that their flights had been cancelled and give them a small fraction of the refunded amount, the police added.

Sharma was arrested on charges of cheating and forgery under sections 318(4), 319(2), 339/61(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66C of the Information Technology Act.

“During sustained custodial interrogation, the accused confessed to establishing and operating fraudulent call centres over several years, under the facade of a legitimate travel service provider. He admitted to orchestrating a scheme that primarily targeted US and other foreign nationals by posing as an authorised flight booking agency,” Amit Kaushik, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, said.

“The illicit proceeds were partially returned to the victims—after deducting fictitious cancellation fees—or withheld entirely. Preliminary forensic analysis of seized electronic devices has revealed hundreds of forged documents used to facilitate these fraudulent claims,” he added.

The company has more than 500 employees, and multiple arrests will follow, a senior police official said.