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Gudur travel agent cheats pilgrims
Nearly 50 pilgrims cheated by a travel agent stranded near the Krishnaveni ghat in Krishnalanka in Vijayawada on Saturday. The pilgrims, including women and children, belongs to Gudur town of Nellore district and came to Vijayawada on Saturday morning for the darshan of Goddess Kanaka Durga.
Vijayawada: Nearly 50 pilgrims cheated by a travel agent stranded near the Krishnaveni ghat in Krishnalanka in Vijayawada on Saturday. The pilgrims, including women and children, belongs to Gudur town of Nellore district and came to Vijayawada on Saturday morning for the darshan of Goddess Kanaka Durga.
- Agent left the passengers in Vijayawada after collecting money
- Pilgrims stranded in Vijayawada waiting for help from donors
The travel agent, Sivaiah, has been absconding since morning and his whereabouts were not known till evening. The hapless pilgrims paid Rs 2.6 lakh as fee and planning to return to Gudur. The victims have narrated their woes to media persons at the Krishnaveni ghat in Krishnalanka on Saturday.
According to the pilgrims, the local travel agent of Gudur, Sivaiah, had entered into the contract with them for the nine-day tour to Shirdi and other places and collected Rs 2.6 lakh from them as travel expenses. Adult fee is Rs 5,550 and child fee is and Rs 3,000 for a nine-day tour, which includes Vijayawada, Bhadrachalam, Shirdi, Ellora in Maharashtra and some other holy places.
They left Gudur town in Nellore district in Srinivasa Ramu Tours and Travels bus on Friday night and reached Vijayawada on Saturday morning. The travel agent asked the pilgrims to visit Kanaka Durga temple and come back for the breakfast at 10 am. When they returned, the travel agent disappeared from the spot.
They tried to call him to the mobile number 70368 16 272 but in vain as it was switched off. The pilgrims suspected some foul game and immediately lodged a complaint with Krishnalanka police who met them at the Krishnaveni chat and inquired about the agent. They registered a case and began the investigation.
One of the pilgrims V Prabhakar said they trusted the travel agent, Sivaiah, as he earlier conducted one-day or two-day short tours successfully. He said they were disappointed due to cheating of the agent. V Lavanya, another pilgrim travelling with her child, said she had never expected such incident. She said she had a dream of visiting Shirdi for a long time and now she could not do it.
The agent Sivaiah had arranged a bus bearing number AP 09 W 0238 for the pilgrims at Gudur. The bus driver Ashok said he does not know about the agent Sivaiah. He said his owner asked him to go on duty for nine days and he came to Vijayawada. The angry pilgrims had been waiting for the assistance of local donors as they left without enough money.
The agent collected a total Rs 5,500 from each pilgrim and left away. The total amount collected by Sivaiah was Rs 2.6 lakh. The tourists consist of 25 women, 20 men, and four children.
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