Kolkata: Cox & Kings booked for ‘duping’ 75 people of Rs 7.5 crore

The complaint was lodged by one Camellia Dutta of Belghoria, along 74 others, against the promoters, directors and staff of Cox & Kings (India) Limited at Shakespeare Sarani police station Thursday.

“In the complaint, they have accused the tour operator of cheating and misappropriation of booking amount to the tune of Rs 7.5 crore on the pretext of conducting foreign tours,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Murlidhar Sharma.

A case was registered under sections 406 (Criminal Intimidation), 120B (Criminal Conspiracy) and 420 (Cheating and Fraud) of Indian Penal Code and the investigation was handed over to the Detective Department of the Kolkata Police.

According to police, preliminary probe revealed that the company had collected around Rs 40 crore from several customers for conducting tours in different countries, during the festive season.

“They are accused of neither fulfilling their commitment nor returning the booking amounts. It caused wrongful loss to the complainants,” said an officer.

Police sources said the tour operator used to arrange trips to countries in North America, Europe and Australia among others. Many customers found that their air tickets were not booked even after giving the booking amount, following which they raised an alarm.