The Punjab Police have booked 25 travel agencies across various parts of the state for deceiving youngsters with fake job opportunities abroad.

The Punjab Police’s NRI and Cyber Crime wings, in coordination with the Protectorate of Emigrants, Chandigarh, launched this crackdown on travel agencies for illegally advertising employment opportunities on social media platforms, primarily Instagram and Facebook. These agencies have been accused of luring young people with promises of “guaranteed” jobs in Western countries and Russia, often involving dubious or non-existent documentation processes.

A total of 20 FIRs have been lodged under Sections 24/25 of the Emigration Act at various NRI police stations, including those in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Patiala, Sangrur and SAS Nagar. This operation specifically targeted those illegal agencies which had been actively advertising on social media, deceiving unsuspecting youths and defrauding them of their hard-earned money.

ADGP Praveen K Sinha revealed that these agencies were operating without the necessary licences and permissions required for such services. “Our investigation involved checking online platforms and verifying the credentials of these agencies. After confirmation of their illicit activities, FIRs were registered against them,” Mr Sinha stated, as per the Tribune.

This crackdown comes amid rising incidents of travel agencies sending youths to Western nations via illegal routes or to Russia to fight in the Ukraine war. ADGP Sinha urged citizens to be cautious and verify the credentials of travel agents before entrusting them with documents and money. 

The initial public offer (IPO) of online travel company Yatra opened for subscription on Friday, September 15. It will remain open till September 20, 2023. The price band for the IPO is Rs 135-142 per equity share of face value Rs 1 each. The company has allocated 2.49 crore equity shares to 33 entities, according to a circular uploaded on the BSE website. At the upper end of the price band, Yatra’s promotors and shareholders seek to raise up to Rs 775 crore.

The Yatra IPO comprises of a fresh issue of 42,394,366 shares worth Rs 602 crore and an Offer for Sale (OFS) of up to 1,21,83,099 shares – the amount promoters are offloading. The promoters are THCL Travel Holding Cyprus Ltd and investor is Pandara Trust – Scheme I, represented by its trustee Vistra ITCL (India) Ltd.

Yatra plans to use the amount it receives from the sale of the IPO towards strategic investments, acquisitions and inorganic growth, investment in customer acquisition and retention, technology, and other organic growth initiatives.

Yatra is the third largest online travel company in the country in terms of gross booking revenue and operating revenue.

Ahead of the IPO, the company raised Rs 348.75 crore from anchor investor. These include ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund (MF), Mirae Asset MF, Tata MF, Bandhan MF, Max Life Insurance, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte, Bofa Securities Europe SA, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas Arbitrage and Quantum State Investment Fund.