The 11-day religious tour to Egypt and Jerusalem, subsidised by the state government, has turned out to be a nightmare for 64 tourists who have been stranded in Cairo, Egypt as the travel agent failed to provide visas.Even as the tourists from different parts from state-- Krishna, Nellore districts and Hyderabad-- have been stuck in Cairo since May 30, the news came to light on Monday when the victims' relatives lodged a complaint with Gopalpuram police against the travel agency owner, who is absconding.
According to police, Asset Holy Land Tours and Travels, a private travel agency functioning from Amruthavani building in Secunderabad, organised an 11-day religious tour to Egypt and Jerusalem. It collected `60,000 each from 64 people. The tour was scheduled from May 28 to June 7. Each tourist was provided a subsidy of `20,000 by the state government on the tour package.Of the 64 tourists, 34 belong to Krishna district and the remaining are natives of Nellore district and Hyderabad.
"As per the tour package, the travel agency is supposed to ensure flight tickets (to and fro), visa, food and accommodation for the tourists. But, as they reached Cairo on May 30, Prashant Choudhary, their guide, abandoned them,"said deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Ch Srikanth. Gera Hanock, president of the Association of Integrated Christian Council said, Ch David Brihmum, among the tourists, who left Hyderabad on May 28, is the general secretary of the council."The management of the hotel in Cairo in which the tourists were staying evicted all of them from the rooms and the victims had to pay `5 lakh as the room rent and other charges to the hotel management from their own pockets. It is said that the victims were not even facilitated to meet the officials of the Indian Embassy at Cairo," he said.
A few relatives of the victims lodged a complaint with the Gopalpuram police station saying that the travel agent, Francis, had duped the tourists. They also met Hyderabad police commissioner Anurag Sharma.Police visited the travel agency office in Secunderabad and found it closed. Francis's house in Mettuguda was also locked, police said. However, DCP Ch Srikanth said that the travel agency promised to bring back all the tourists to the city by Tuesday. Based on the complaint, police booked cases under the Sections 420 (cheating) and 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) against the agent.
Source: http://www.andhrayouth.com/viewnews.php?id=27944
