Daijiworld Media Network - Muscat (SP/ANK)

Mangaluru, Apr 12: A youth who wanted to come to his native place to be able to cast his vote during the Lok Sabha election had booked ticket from Muscat where he works, to Mangaluru. The ticket was booked for March 29, and Joystan Lobo from Puttur had made an inspirational video asking his friends and others to take part in the polling process and shared it to his friends. One of his friends settled at Puttur streamed this video through WhatsApp, Facebook and other social media. Within two hours from then, the ticket was cancelled without the knowledge of Joystan!

Joystan had booked his ticket by Air India. He had said in his video sent to his friends that he was coming to vote for a person whom he knows well, who is contesting this election.

Joystan came to know about the ticket cancellation with delay. He re-checked and found that his onward ticket to India had indeed been cancelled.

As per reliable sources, Joyston’s ticket was cancelled from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking to daijiworld.com, Joystan said, "I work as a junior accountant in Muscat. I decided to visit India to cast my vote in the upcoming elections. Hence, I booked ticket to depart on April 4. I know Mithun Rai very closely from many years. I shot an awareness video on casting votes and also praised Mithun in it. I sent it to my friend on March 30 in morning at 10 am (Oman time).

“I was unaware about the cancellation of ticket. Ticket was cancelled on March 30 at around 11:15 am (Oman time). I came to know about the cancellation of ticket on April 1. I rebooked the ticket on the same day for April 4 and reached India.

"I later realised that miscreants saw the PNR number of my ticket in the video and got cancelled it cancelled. I am shocked to see that it was possible for a person to cancel my ticket so easily in a short time. I have not done anything wrong and spoken anything offensive in my video. I am planning to file a police complaint soon,” said Joyston Lobo.

It appears that miscreants who got PNR number in the ticket and name of the passenger got it cancelled. Still, it is disturbing to note that third parties can get the tickets cancelled without the knowledge of the person who booked them.

Joystan had paid Rs 21,045 to India for onward and return journeys and he got refund of only Rs 9,000. Joystan booked ticket again, and reached India on April 4. He is currently at Bengaluru and will reach Puttur in a couple of days in time to cast his vote.