Ninety-two members of a contingent of veteran Indian sportspersons, including 60 from AP, were asked to check out of their hotel in Stockholm, Sweden, on Friday. They were stranded on the road after the agent who booked their tour failed to make timely payment.
The contingent left India on June 24 to participate in the 16th World Table Tennis Championship, which began in the Swedish capital the following day.
Sources said “sub-agent” Umesh Bedi made their group booking with Akbar Travels of India, Mumbai. The agency suspended its service on Friday after Bedi failed to make full payment.
A member of the contingent, Mr Satyanarayana, who works with BSNL-Hyderabad, said over phone from Stockholm that they paid Rs1.25 lakh each to Bedi through Mr Jagannatham, president of Veterans’ Table Tennis Association, Andhra Pradesh.
“We were promised that the amount would cover the entire tour, including local transport, food and accommodation,” he said.
“But after our matches on Thursday, we were asked to pay more for continuing the tour. We collected almost 1,000 Euro and paid, but were left on the road on Friday morning. We haven’t eaten for nearly the whole day and do not know what will happen next. We were supposed to fly to Paris on Friday as per the itinerary,” he added.