Ludhiana, Jan. 4 -- The Ludhiana police have booked a Gujarat-based travel consultant for allegedly duping 25 youths from Punjab, most of them from Ludhiana, of nearly Rs.4 crore by promising genuine UK work permit visas that later turned out to be fake. The accused has been identified as Mihul Soni, director of Current Consultant Private Limited, based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. He has been booked under relevant sections of cheating, criminal breach of trust and provisions of the ImmigrationAct. The case was registered at Division Number 5 police station on the complaint of Sukhchain Singh, a resident of Jaiton in Faridkot, who is also a travel agent operating from Ludhiana. According to police, Singh approached Soni in June 2025 to arrange UK work permits for 25 of his clients, the majority of whom were from Ludhiana. Police said Soni allegedly assured Singh that he would arrange genuine work permit visas, collected the documents of the youths and received more than Rs.4 crore from them in installments. Acting on these assurances, three youths were sent to the UK. The fraud came to light after the youths reached the UK and discovered that the work permits issued to them were invalid. Facing difficulties and harassment abroad, all three returned to India within a short span and informed the complainant. Following this, Singh confronted Soni but allegedly received evasive responses. He then approached police officials in Ludhiana, prompting a preliminary inquiry that continued for nearly sixmonths. Based on the findings of the inquiry, police registered an FIR against Soni at Division Number 5 police station. ASI Sukhdeep Singh, the investigating officer, said, "Efforts are underway to arrest the accused and the investigation is also focused on identifying whether any accomplices were involved and if more youths were duped using a similar modus operandi." Police have urged aspirants planning to go abroad for employment to verify the credentials and registration of travel agents and immigration consultants before makingpayments....