Kolkata citizens duped in Frankfurt

Kolkata's love of football landed thirty of its soccer lovers in trouble in Frankfurt when they came to know that their travel agent had duped them.

As many as thirty city people including some famous sports personalities, who paid several crores to a travel agency Endeavour, to watch the World Cup finals are left helpless in Frankfurt.

Police sources said travel agency, located at Shakespeare Sarani, had promised a dream World Cup package, which includes tickets to the quarter finals, semi- and finals, apart from sightseeing, travel arrangements, local commuting and hotel accommodation.

The tour group had signed up with a travel agent Indranil Mitra for a dream tour of Germany during the World Cup; with tickets to the finals thrown in. Mohun Bagan's Anjan Mitra, coach Amal Dutta and Kuntala Ghosh Dastidar are among those abandoned in Frankfurt. The agent, however, promised hotel bookings and world cup tickets but delivered nothing.

As per the reports, the owner told the victims that they would get their tickets once they reach Germany. Majority of the people refused to take the bait. Football coach Amal Dutta being one. The owner himself then flew to London on June 19 and returned with some tickets.

According to police, he told the others, that they would get theirs once they reached Germany. After reaching there, the groups found all the tickets bogus. Now, the 30 people are stranded in Germany, who didn’t even take much money along because they were told all their necessities would be taken care of.

Their families have been advised to inform the Indian embassy in Frankfurt to arrange for their return. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who is also in Germany, has been conveyed to help those stranded.

This is the second ticket fraud to hit World Cup fans, after UK. It came into notice on Thursday by the first batch of city group who landed in Frankfurt.

The other groups, set to leave on July 1, have cancelled their trip. They along with some of Mitra's other clients still in Kolkata and due to leave for Germany in a day or two, have gone to the police.

"I've come to know of it verbally. An official complaint will soon be lodged. Before that is made, nothing can be said," said DC (south) Ajay Kumar, adding that the detective agency may take over the case.

He further said, "We have to locate him first and then bring him back. He will be arrested. It's a clear case of cheating."

In the meantime, one of Mitra's employees has reported that Mitra is in London.

"Indranil and his father have apparently left with all their jewels and money. Indranil called up an employee, Partha, and told him he is not coming back to India. This is the first fraud of it's kind in India," said Balaram Chowdhury, a football official.