Umrah pilgrimage racket busted by Hyderabad police

Mustafa Mohammed allegedly introduced himself as a Dubai national and placed an advertisement in newspapers offering a free Umrah pilgrimage

Hyderabad: A man who posed as a Sheik from Dubai and his accomplice who acted as a doctor were among a gang of eight arrested on Wednesday by the Hyderabad City Police on charges of cheating people after promising to send them on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

The prime suspect Mustafa Mohammed allegedly introduced himself as a Dubai national and a member of a charity organisation. He set up an office at Kakaji City Centre Mall in Hussaini Alam and placed an advertisement in newspapers offering a free Umrah pilgrimage through the charity organisation. He told visitors that he was a rich person with several businesses in Dubai and was on a short visit to Hyderabad.

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“Mustafa set up an office at Khilwat and collected a registration fee of Rs 500 from those who visited his office. He also asked them to undergo a Covid-19 test by paying Rs 2,500 at a clinic set up by him nearby,” said S Raghavendra, Inspector Task Force (South).

Around 150 people visited the office on the first day on Tuesday and also underwent the Covid-19 test after paying.

“Khaja Fahad Ali, an associate of Mustafa pretended to be a doctor and collected the samples for the Covid19 test,” the Inspector said, adding that based on a tip-off, the Task Force laid a trap and caught Mustafa, who was earlier in Dubai for a few years and had learned Arabic. His associates who were collecting documents from people were also nabbed and Rs 1.75 lakh was seized from them.

All the eight were handed over to the Hussaini Alam police for further action.

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