Rs 20 lakh for overseas tour, but taken for ride in Bodakdev

AHMEDABAD: Ketan Patel, 36, a businessman and his friends — Paritosh Patel, Hemant Shah, Nilesh Patel, and Sanjay Bharwad — decided to book a tour package for Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia with Izabel Tours and Travels.
Price of the package — comprising family visas, airline tickets, and hotel accommodation — was fixed at Rs 1.19 lakh per adult and Rs 85,000 per child.An advance of Rs 50,000 was paid on November 29. The touring party was asked to pay the full amount the next day for confirmation of visas, hotel stay, and airline tickets.
All five met Dhruti Pooch at the travel agent’s office and confirmed the tour package. They paid Rs 1.5 lakh in cash and gave cheques for Rs 6 lakh and received a signed bill. After two days they got a call from Dhruti who demanded more money to seal the deal and also threatened to scrap the package. They paid Rs 50,000 in cash but Dhruti allegedly made more calls demanding money. Troubled by the threats, the men deposited a cheque of Rs 4 lakh and paid Rs 4.44 lakh in cash. They got eight receipts for the payment and an assurance that the tour would proceed as planned.
But three days later, Dhruti said the money had been lost in dollar conversion and demanded Rs 4 lakh more for the package. When the men demanded their money back, Dhruti and her colleague Vipul responded rudely and refused to pay back. A complaint has been registered and police are investigating the matter.