BENGALURU: An alleged blunder while arranging pages of a passport booklet by the Regional Passport Office (RPO) at Koramangala led to a painful experience for a 42-year-old businessman from city.
Even 10 tweets to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and desperate calls to politicians did not help. After being closeted with nearly 30 drug addicts and criminals in a small room, Praveen K Chowhan was deported from Moscow airport after a 10-hour stay there as the passport was considered defective.
Though the ordeal took place on August 7, his pleas to the RPO for help after reaching the city went in vain. Finally, after filing an FIR against the RPO on the advice of the City Police Commissioner, a Deputy Passport Officer has given him an appointment on Thursday. Chowhan, a distributor of electronic gadgets, made a mention of his experience during an interaction with the Regional Passport Officer at the Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday.
Speaking to TNIE, Chowhan said, “It was a terrifying experience. I had left Bengaluru for Sharjah on August 7 and reached Moscow from there. As I passed through the immigration counter, my passport was thoroughly checked. I was told that the sequence of pages from 1 to 60 in my passport was not in the correct order and I had to wait in a room under tight security. I repeatedly told them I have travelled to 10 countries using the same passport but no one bothered to listen.” “It was a nearly four-hour long wait.I used my phone to call the Indian embassy in Moscow. They gave me an emergency helpline number but the person could not help,” he said. “Another officer told me that my passport was damaged so I cannot enter Moscow.I was told I would be deported. I sent 10 tweets to the External Affairs Minister too but got no response,” he recalls. Chowhan was later taken to a holding area. Luckily, there was a flight to Sharjah around midnight, he recalled.
Repeated mails to RPO after reaching Bengaluru went unanswered. He tweeted to the City Police Commissioner who suggested he book an FIR against the RPO. Even that went unanswered. A second tweet to the Commissioner has finally earned him an appointment on September 20.