The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : It was an `unpleasant' pilgrimage for them

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 04, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

It was an `unpleasant' pilgrimage for them

Raghava M.

The group was at fault, says wife of the tour operator

BANGALORE: A pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar that should have satisfied the tourists and the tour operator has turned sour for both.

While the tourists have lodged a complaint of cheating against the operator, the tour operator claims the mistake was with the tourists.

Some who were part of the nine-member group from the city who could not perform the "yatra" for want of visa from China alleged that the operators — S. Ramesh and Prasad Acharya — had cheated them. The Chandra Layout Police, who have registered a case of cheating, sent the accused in judicial custody after a court order.

Complainant J.C. Visweswara, who is an advocate and resident of Rajajinagar, said the operators had collected Rs. 72,000 each from nine persons, including him.

They left the city on June 5 according to schedule and reached Kathmandu. Pratap Dasgupta, through whom Ramesh arranged the tour, informed the group that only six persons had got visas. The group refused to travel separately and insisted on a single trip.

The Chinese Government accorded visas only to three persons, when fresh applications were filed by all the nine members after paying fine. Mr. Visveswara said that Pratap demanded Rs. 51,000 each from the six others to get visas. Unable to pay the amount, they returned to the city, while one of the three persons who got the visa completed the yatra.

Ramesh's wife said that it was the group which was at fault for failure of the yatra. She told The Hindu that the group did not get visa on time as three of them had submitted their passports late, just a week before commencement of the yatra.

She said that her husband had given the group two options — total refund of money or yatra on a later date. But, the group insisted that the yatra be arranged as scheduled, and Ramesh agreed in writing that he would try his best to arrange the tour. They were told that everything depended on the Chinese Government.

These nine persons, along with 28 others, left for Kathmandu on June 5. The three who had not received visa got it on June 11, three days after the rest of the group completed the tour.

The leader of the group had insisted that all the nine should be taken together and when new applications for visas were filed, visas for only three, who had got the same for June 11, were issued. One of them had completed the yatra, she said.

Ramesh's wife said the tourists had not been cheated and everything was arranged according to the tour conditions. How can Ramesh be liable for denial of visa by the Chinese Government, she asked.

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