Chandigarh, Nov. 20 -- A local court has sentenced a husband-wife duo from Kapurthala to two years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for duping their relative of Rs.18 lakh on the pretext of sending her to Canada. In the complaint, Balbir Kaur, alias Jassi, a resident of Sector 29-B, said she used to run a salon in Manimajra, Chandigarh, when the duo lured her with promises of a Canadian visa. She said the accused namely, Ranjit Kaur Satti, the daughter of her aunt, and Major Singh, her husband, used to meet her occasionally. On January 2, 2015, the duo met her and said that they have good links in the Canadian Embassy and claimed that work permit visas for beautician/hair dressers are open and they can easily provide visa-cum-work permit for two years for her with a cost of Rs.18 lakh. Kaur said she met with the accused at her residence on January 16, 2016, and agreed to go to Canada on a two-year work permit as a beautician and requested them to give some time to arrange the money. They asked her to deposit an initial amount of Rs.2 lakh to complete the case file and papers. Over the duration of five months, they took a total of Rs.18 lakh from her but didn't provide her the required visa and documents. Later, she came to know that the accused had defrauded several others in the same manner . An FIR was filed under Section 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Emigration Act. The accused were arrested and pleaded not guilty and opted for trial. The prosecution examined 10 witnesses to prove their case while the accused Major Singh and his wife pleaded that they are an agriculturalist family who had given a friendly loan to the complainant and she had submitted a false complaint. They added that nothing incriminating was recovered from their possession. The court ruled that the prosecution was able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. The accused were held guilty. As the order on quantum of sentence was pronounced, the accused pleaded that they are first time offenders and have a son to look after. The court however observed that the accused had duped the complainant of Rs.18 lakh and didn't hold any licence or permit to send the complainant abroad. Both have been sentenced to RI for two years and fined Rs.4,000 each for offences under Section 120-B, sentenced to two years RI and fined Rs.4,000 each for offences under Section 420 and sentenced to one year RI and fined Rs.1,000 each for offences under the Emigration Act. All the sentences will runconcurrently....