Bengaluru: A 42-year-old man who had booked an international tour package to Singapore and Malaysia through a tour operator in HSR Layout was shocked to see the agency permanently shut when he went there to collect the visa as told by the operator.
The tour operator, HSR Travel World in Parangipalya in HSR Layout, owned by Girish N.S., is learnt to have cheated over 26 people. Girish had collected Rs 25,000 each as the booking amount.
One of the victims, Kamaraju P., a resident of Leggere, has filed a complaint at the HSR Layout police station. Kamaraju complained that he was surfing the internet for international tour operators when he came across HSR Travel World. When he visited the agency on April 6, he was told by Girish that the agency was offering a package to Singapore and Malaysia for Rs 53,000 from May 23 to 29.
Kamaraju booked the package by paying Rs 25,000 advance, after which Girish asked him to collect the visa from the agency on May 8. When Kamaraju went to the agency on that date, he found it shut. He then kept calling Girish on his mobile phone, but it was switched off.
Kamaraju, who sensed that he had been cheated, approached the police and lodged the complaint against the agency owner. It is learnt that another 26 people too have been cheated in a similar manner by Girish and the police have launched a manhunt to arrest him.
