SGPC gets fake web portal used to book accommodation at ‘Saragarhi Niwas’ in Amritsar blocked

GS Paul

Amritsar, June 20

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has got the bogus web portal through which miscreants used to defraud the outstation devotees on the pretext of booking their accommodation in the SGPC-run inn ‘Saragarhi Niwas’ blocked in Amritsar.

IT wing in-charge of SGPC Bikram Singh located the IP address of this fake website being run under the name of ‘saragarhisaraihotel’ and brought it to the notice of the Google authorities.

Gurpreet Singh, SGPC sarai manager, said that a request was submitted to Google while revealing how the innocent devotees were falling prey to this fake web portal. “Acting promptly on our request, the fake web portal was suspended,” he said.

Earlier, the IT team of the SGPC had investigated bank details that pertained to some place near Ayodhya in UP, named as ‘Saragarhi Sarai’, and got it freezed.

SGPC secretary Partap Singh said it was now the responsibility of the police to nab the culprits.

At least 15 complaints were received at the SGPC office wherein the devotees ended up losing between Rs 850 to Rs 10,000. The miscreants used WhatsApp to conceal their identity. They had pasted pictures of the Golden Temple, Saragarhi Niwas and mentioned Sikh religious symbols on their page to win over the visitors who approach their site for online booking of accommodation.

A complaint was lodged with the Amritsar police on June 6, yet the swindlers could not be nabbed.

“It is the responsibility of the police administration to arrest the culprits and take appropriate legal action,” he said.

He said www.sgpcsarai.com is the official website for room reservation. “The payment should not be made through any mobile number/QR code or online transaction from any other platform,” he said.

Fake website brought to Google’s notice

• IT wing in-charge of SGPC Bikram Singh located the IP address of this fake website being run under the name of ‘saragarhisaraihotel’ and brought it to the notice of the Google authorities
• Gurpreet Singh, SGPC sarai manager, said a request was submitted to Google while revealing how the innocent devotees were falling prey to this fake web portal. Acting promptly on our request, the fake web portal was suspended,” he said.