Coimbatore : A couple running a travel agency in the city were on Wednesday remanded to judicial custody for cheating nearly 650 persons to the tune of Rs.six crore on the promise of taking to various destinations on tour packages.

The police started investigation following a complaint from a retired bank employee, Muthukumarasamy that the Dhanavarsha Tours and Travels had cheated him by taking Rs.3.47 lakh for tours to various destinations including Singapore and Andaman and Nicobar.

As told Muthukumarasay went to collect the tickets on September 21 last from the agency, but found it locked and there was no trace of Sureshkumar the owner and his staff and were not available over phone, police said.

Further investigation revealed that Sureshkumar had cheated nearly 650 persons, taking Rs.12,500 to Rs.two lakh, amounting to Rs.six crore, they said.

Based on a tip off, a special police team managed to nab Sureshkumar and his wife Maheshwari Tuesday night in the city.

Both of them were produced before 7th judicial magistrate court Wednesday, who in turn remanded them to judicial custody for 15 days and lodged in the Central Jail here.