Sent on 4-day free trip to Singapore, deported in a day

Rajesh Gupta of Chikhli was among the 14 lucky winners picked up by the PCMC for the trip to Singapore. Gupta had taken his friend Sanjay Patil along with him. The duo have no clue as to why they were sent back as no reason has been cited by the airport authorities that sent them back. Even the civic officials back home are wondering what went wrong.

Besides the stay, the PCMC had offered two free air tickets per winner who were selected after a draw of lots. The winners were selected from among those who had paid their full property tax before August 31 last year. The 14 winners had to go with spouse, child, relative or a friend. The accompaying person was also entitled to the freebies. Gupta chose his friend Patil.

Both of them landed in Singapore on June 15. After their visa, passport, hotel bookings and other papers were checked, the airport authorities asked them to accompany them. “We were asked only a couple of questions. We tried to reply but we could not communicate much as we do not know English,” said Gupta. “They asked how much money we had brought with us. I showed them the currency,” he said.

Gupta said they were put up at a hotel at the airport and were served food. In the morning, Gupta and his friend had to pay Rs 13,000 before they were put on the plane. “They treated us well. But did not tell us why we were being sent back. Communicating with them was a big problem.” 

Municipal Commissioner Asheesh Sharma said he has no idea what happened in Singapore. “Once we talk to Gupta, we will get an idea. We will ask Prasanna Travels, the agency that arranged the trip, to find out what went wrong,” Sharma said.

Medha Rangnekar, branch manager of the agency, said, “We had checked all the papers. Their visa, passport, hotel stay, everything was confirmed and verified. We need to check their immigration papers to find out the remarks written by the authorities,” she said.