Arrested for no fault of theirs.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: A 40-year-old Indian businessman attempting to travel with his family from New Delhi to London encountered an ordeal like nothing he could have possibly expected upon his arrival in London.
According to The Times of India, once Harjinder Singh and his family exited their plane, they were immediately detained by authorities who claimed he had purchased his family’s four airline tickets using a stolen credit card.
The British authorities remained skeptical when Singh explained he had paid 2.4 lakh to a travel agent to purchase the tickets and subsequently confiscated the passport of each family member. They then threatened Singh that the entire family would be arrested unless he paid for four tickets all over again.
Desperately, Singh called his travel agent, who apologized for the “confusion” and promised to reimburse the money once the family returned to India, which did nothing to help Singh at the time.
Singh proceeded to call his cousin in London whose wedding the family was attending, and he put the exhausted family in touch with a lawyer, who advised Singh to settle the matter by purchasing four new tickets while charging 2,000 pounds, or almost 2 lakh, as his legal fee.
Despite the trials and tribulations endured during his family’s intercontinental journey, when Singh returned to New Delhi and approached the travel agent for reimbursement, he was flatly refused. After multiple visits the agent allegedly became abusive and threatened him, which led to Singh contacting the police.
The police informed the Times of India that they have registered a fraud case and an investigation has been opened.
1 Comment
Its obvious that the travel agent used a fraudulent card keeping the cash to himself. The family should have purchased the tickets and follow up with the travel agent after returning to India, instead of spending 2 lakh in legal fees which sounded like an exorbitant money for a common sense advise that anyone could have given him. He was deceived twice, First time by the travel agent and the second time by the attorney with a law firm of Dewey Cheathem and Howe!