Group of 10 from Mumbai, who spent lakhs on Europe trip, forced to live in same clothes for a week after their luggage is ‘hijacked’ by third party tour coordinator in The Hague over non-payment of dues
Dream Ero vacation of seniors from Mumbai turns into nightmare
The excited senior citizens before taking off to London. They had tagged along with tourists from Bonton Holidays for their vacation
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Maruti Sule and his wife, Mrudula, residents of Vasai, pooled in over R4 lakh — a large chunk of their life savings — to finally set off on their dream vacation last month. What was supposed to be a chance to soak in the cultures of a world outside their own turned into a nightmare for them and eight other elderly residents of Mumbai. The group that was on their first post-retirement holiday were left without their medicines and change of clothes in a strange country after their luggage was ‘hijacked’.
The Sules were part of a team of 10 travellers — all aged 60 to 70 — who set off on September 14 on a fortnight-long European holiday, beginning in London. While the first day went off as planned, a pit stop in The Hague, the Netherlands, on September 16 saw their luggage ‘hijacked’ by the local tour coordinator allegedly over pending dues by a travel agency that co-hosted the trip. With only their passports and some cash left on them, the elderly group had to cut short their trip and return on September 22.
Anil and Varsha Surve, Maruti and Mrudula Sule, Surekha David, Jaywant Bagwe, Sunita Chandanwale, J Bharawdekar, Priyanka Teredesai and Priyanka Sawant had approached the Dadar branch of Mumba-based travel firm, Kaustubh Tours, four months ago for a Euro trip. Initially, the agency suggested the seniors wait till next May to travel with a larger group — Kaustubh Tours requires a minimum of 25 tourists in every batch — but the seniors didn’t wish to wait. Its director Kaustubh Vanarase suggested they join another set of travellers hosted by Dubai-based tour operator Bonton Holidays, which has a corporate office in Andheri. Each one coughed up R2.10-2.15 lakh and signed up, said Maruti. For many, it meant dipping into their savings. Nearly half of the group comprised government servants who had retired from state-run hospitals in Mumbai, including JJ Hospital and St George Hospital.
Kaustubh had tied up with Bonton for a similar international trip last year.
The seniors said their trip was initially planned for August, but was postponed twice — to September 11 and finally to September 14. They claim that although Vanarase had promised to accompany them on the vacation, he pulled out at the last minute. Undeterred, they set off.
Driver goes missing
As per the itinerary, the group was to travel to London, Amsterdam, Paris, Zurich (Switzerland), Innsbruck (Austria), Padova, Perugia and Rome (Italy).
After London, they headed for the Netherlands on September 16. They took an overnight ferry from Harwich, a port in Essex, England, to reach Hook of Holland (a town in southwest Holland) the next morning.
“At Hook of Holland, Vanarase joined us. He came to pick us up at the port in a mini-bus. We got off and our luggage was loaded into the bus,” said Maruti.
The vehicle was arranged by Gateways, a Luxembourg-based company that provides tailor-made services in Europe to tour groups.
“We then left for sightseeing to Madurodam (a miniature park and tourist attraction in The Hague, Netherlands). When we returned, we found the vehicle missing,” Maruti recalled. The group initially thought that the driver had gone for a break. But when there was no sight of him for over an hour, panic began to set in. The driver allegedly told Vanarase on the phone that Bonton had failed to make payments to Gateways for a previous trip, and that he had been instructed to return immediately, regardless of whether he had a pile of luggage with him.
Dutch cops helpless
Another senior who was part of the travel group said they immediately approached Den Haag police station, but the authorities there did little to help, owing to jurisdiction issues. The police allegedly told the group that since the bus was from Belgium, the Netherlands couldn’t intervene.
From September 17 to 22, the elderly Mumbaikars, many of whom suffer from high/low blood pressure, diabetes and other health complications, were left without clothes and even essential medicines. They partially lucked out since their passports and some cash was still with them.
On September 22, Vanarase finally managed to get them return tickets, and flew them back.
The group claimed that it contacted the Indian Embassy in the Netherlands, but were told that the authorities could only help if they had problems with their passports, not retrieving their luggage.
Complaint filed
The travellers have now registered a complaint against Kaustubh Tours — whose motto is ironically, Holiday fun for everyone — with Dadar police station. They have demanded that they be compensated for “mental harassment” and the physical ordeal. They want their luggage tracked down and returned, and action initiated against Vanarase under cheating charges.
Gangadhar Sonawane, senior inspector, Dadar police station, said the complaint is being probed.
Vanarase, in turn, registered a complaint at the MIDC police station against Bonton for financial losses and mental harassment.
On October 3, the MIDC police station wrote a letter to Bonton Holidays, instructing its representative(s) to appear before it for an inquiry with some relevant documents.
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TOUR OPERATORS SAY
Kaustabh Tours
Kaustubh Vanarase claimed that he, too, had been cheated, and that he took care of the seniors till they returned safely to Mumbai. “I lost my luggage, too. It’s wrong to say that we cheated them. It was Bonton Holidays that’s responsible for the fiasco. This was a joint tour by Bonton and our company.
Bonton was tasked with looking after travel arrangements. It gave the subcontract to Gateways, which had apparently not been paid by Bonton for an earlier trip. Instead of deserting the seniors, I spent R1 lakh from my pocket, for their meals and stay. We are doing our best to retrieve the luggage.” He said he had verified Bonton’s credentials before tying up with the firm.
Bonton Holidays
Rahul Thakur, vice-president, said, “As per company policy, I am not authorised to speak to the media. I will not be able to comment since the matter is being investigated.”
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