Mumbai doctor tries to book helicopter ride online for pilgrimage in Uttarakhand, gets duped

On May 31, while searching for contacts of helicopter service providers for Govind Ghat to Ghangariya, in Uttarakhand, the complainant came across a website of Himalayan Helicopter Service with a mobile number.

On contacting the mobile number, a person picked up the call and identified himself as Akash Singh, who told the complainant that the helicopter service for Govind Ghat to Ghangariya and return would cost Rs 5,050 per person, and bookings had to be made in advance with full payment, the police complaint said.

As per Singh’s instructions, the complainant agreed to the offer and sent Rs 10,500 to his mobile number-linked Unified Payments Interface (UPI) account. Later, Singh told the complainant that he would have to pay an additional Rs 6,200 towards the insurance, and if he didn’t pay it, then his booking would be cancelled and the money would not be refunded, an officer said.

The complainant paid the amount but his booking was not processed. Singh then told him that since he had paid the amount in two transactions, the system was not processing the payment and asked the complainant to pay Rs 1,600 in one shot. When the complainant asked Singh to refund the previous money, he said it would be processed in 24 hours, the complainant said in the FIR.

With no ticket and no refund, the complainant realised that he had been duped and approached the Malad police.