MADINAH : A group of 32 Umrah pilgrims who went through a travel agent in Colombo, has been denied boarding at the Madinah airport to come to Colombo since they were holding dummy air tickets .
The travel agent who has been operating from an office in Maradana had taken money from the 32 pilgrims for a full package including passage, internal travel within the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah and lodging too.
Sources from Madinah said the stranded pilgrims have desperately trying to contact the agent who has switched off his phone. The pilgrims are mostly from Badulla, Welimada and Bandarawela areas
when contacted the Haj Committee Chairman Reaz Mihular told Colombo Times that appropriate action will be taken against the agent who had ferried the group.
Sources from the Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs said that the person who had sent the group is not a registered Umrah travel operator. He would have processed the pilgrimage through an IATA agent who had made the travel arrangements. The department is currently contacting the Sri Lanka consulate in Jeddah to help out the pilgrims to return home safely
