Mangalore: Elderly couple looted by tour operator during Umrah

Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (DV)

Mangalore, Feb 14: Abdul Rahiman and Bi Fathima, residents of Kaikamba, have accused a Bhatkal-base tour operator of looting them and causing much incovenience during their recent Umrah pilgrimage to Madinah in Saudi Arabia.

Addressing a press meet here on Friday February 14, 70-year-old Rahiman said that he and his 62-year-old wife Bi Fathima had been looted of their money by Ansar Matta of Matta Umra Service, Bhatkal.

Rahiman said that Matta had promised to arrange entire Umrah tour at Rs 90,000 with no hidden costs and also promised to provide all facilities including food and accomodation at no additional cost. A letter too was given in this regard.

"We left Mangalore on January 14 and after four days we reached Madinah, travelling via Mumbai, Delhi and Jeddah. Though we had already paid Rs 90,000, our tour operator Ansar Matta demanded another Rs 20,000 when we reached Jeddah. In Mumbai too we had to pay for various expenses like taxi, and there alone we ended up spending Rs 1.09 lac including the Rs 90,000," he said.

"In Jeddah, when we told Matta that we could not afford to pay Rs 20,000 as demanded, he lost his temper and assualted us, even slapping my wife. He also threw our passports on the ground and told us to go wherever we wished if we can't pay him the money. Finally, scared of being abadoned in a foreign country at our age, we agreed to pay him Rs 15,000, out of which a part of the amount was paid in Saudi Riyals," Rahiman said.

Rahiman alleged that during the Umrah, he and his wife were treated poorly by the tour operator. "We were not given proper food, and as both of us are diabetics we could not even drink the sweet tea that was served. We survived drinking tea diluted with water. We were shivering in cold in Madinah as we did not have blankets.

"We then filed a complaint in Jeddah, but Matta told the police that he never took any money from us and that he had in fact helped us buy paying Rs 1,000 from his own pocket. We also approached a Muslim association for help. We pleaded him to give us at least Rs 5,000 so that we could take something back for our grandchildren, and Matta promised to pay this amount once we reached Mumbai," he said.

"However, on reaching Mumbai on January 31, Matta abandoned us and totally disappeared without paying us the promised amount. We sat helpless in Mumbai airport, not knowing what to do next as we had no money to come to Mangalore. We were then spotted by Mumbai police who were at the airport. We explained our situation to them and told them how we had been looted by the tour operator. The police then helped us contact our daughter who stays in Mumbai and finally we were able to reach Mangalore," Rahiman said.

After they reached Mangalore, Rahiman and Bi Fathima were admitted to hospital for some days. After full recovery, Rahiman filed a complaint in Bajpe police station against the tour operator and also complained to the IGP (western range).