Two men have been arrested by Delhi Police for running a fraudulent online operation offering cheap national and international air tickets. The accused lured unsuspecting victims through flashy social media ads and posed as legitimate travel agents.
The scam surfaced in November 2024 after a resident of Siraspur in northwest Delhi filed a complaint via the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal. The victim responded to an ad for discounted Delhi–Toronto tickets, shared personal details, and paid for a booking. However, the ticket never arrived, prompting police action.
A cheating case under Section 318 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was filed. A special team traced call logs, bank accounts, and followed a digital money trail to track the culprits.
The arrested individuals are Salman Sayeed Siddiqui (50), picked up in Delhi on April 5, and Rohit Rajaram Ghanekar (29), arrested in Maharashtra on April 2. They reportedly operated fake social media pages and communicated with victims via WhatsApp and virtual numbers. Often, they booked tickets using stolen credentials and canceled them post-payment—or skipped booking entirely.
Siddiqui, identified as the mastermind, has a background in travel and tourism, holding a degree from a university in Hyderabad and certification from an airline industry body. He previously worked with multiple Mumbai-based travel agencies and was arrested in 2023 in a similar case before shifting to Delhi.
Ghanekar, from Raigarh, was a school dropout with a cybercrime-linked past. He specialized in procuring fake SIM cards and mule bank accounts, critical elements of the scam network.
Authorities believe more victims may come forward as the investigation continues.