HYDERABAD:A 65-year-old man’s lifelong wish to visit Manasarovar lake ended up in a ugly situation as he along with two of his family members are stuck in Kathmandu, Nepal, for the past 8 days after the travel agent through which they had planned to fulfil their most cherished dream suddenly vanished with their passports and money, totalling `3.3 lakh after helping them check-in a hotel in Kathmandu.
The problem seems to have arisen after the Gorakhpur-based travel agent did not pay money to his agent in Kathmandu, who abruptly left this family from Khammam district of Telangana. However, the family contacted and sought help from Khammam MP Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy who contacted the agent and asked him to do the needful immediately.
Appa Rao left his hometown on May 18 along with his wife Gunasundari (58) and son-in-law Prasad. Appa Rao yearned to go to Manasarovar lake for the past many decades. “A friend of mine went to Manasarovar through Star Tours and Travels in Gorakphur. So I approached him too,’’ he said.
After reaching New Delhi and then Gorakhpur, where he paid `3.3 lakh for the Manasarovar visit, Appa Rao family left for Kathmandu where another agent (working for Star tours and travels) received them and put them up in hotel Prince. Thereafter, some disputes seem to have arisen between the main agent and his contact in Kathmandu after which he abruptly left them in the hotel and vanished.
“The travel agent who took our passports for visa work said that we would not face problems even if the documents are with him. After waiting for him all these days, we contacted the MP, who spoke to the Gorakhpur-based travel company,’’ Rao said adding that though they went to Nepal along with a group of 14 people from Andhra Pradesh, they are not aware if their co-passengers too are stuck or left for India.
“I spoke to the travel agent and asked them to do the needful. We would ensure that justice is done to our people,” Srinivas Reddy told Express.“I will wait for one more day to decide if we still want to proceed ahead or go back to our hometown,” Appa Rao said.