Family duped by travel agent, pays Rs 92,000 to return from Thailand

A famous retailer of a bakery and confectionery product at south Delhi’s Golf Links and her family members were stuck in Thailand after being duped by a travel agent.

A day before their return from Phuket, the family found that the travel agent had cancelled their return ticket to keep the refund.

A case under section 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code has been filed against the travel agent. The accused has been identified as James D’Souza, who hails from Pune.

“The Golf Links residents had filed a complaint with Tughlaq Road police station. But they had to approach senior police officers after no action was taken in the matter by local police for 20 days,” a source told Deccan Herald.

The complainant told police that he got in touch with James through a friend, who gave his reference and contact numbers.

They started communicating through WhatsApp for the family’s trip from Delhi to Bangkok and Phuket.

“The agreed price of return tickets for four members of the family was Rs 16,000 per person,” said a police officer.

James then sent an e-mail having details of four Thai Airways tickets. The complainant cross-checked the PNR on Thai Airways website and found it to be valid.

On getting the confirmed tickets, a payment of Rs 64,000 was made to James’ Union Bank of India account.

Days before the trip, the family again checked the Thai Airways website and found that the ticket was invalid. The ticket had been cancelled. When they tried to contact James, he did not respond.

“James took the calls after several days and did send confirmed tickets hours before the trip. However, the tickets were of Air India,” the officer added.

The family reached Bangkok. But ended up spending another $500 on their return trip from Bangkok to Phuket.

On the day before their journey to Delhi, the family again found that their ticket had been cancelled, and a refund of the booking amount had been provided to James.

“The complainant tried to contact James, but he did not respond,” the officer said. They had no option other than paying Rs 92,000 for tickets to return home.