COLOMBO : Responding to Colombo Times report on the 42 Lankan Umrah pilgrims in Madinah, Chairman of the Hajj Committee, Reyaz Mihular said that this alleged operator is not approved by the Department of Muslim Religious & Cultural Affairs. “ We have repeatedly advised prospective pilgrims to use only approved tour operators for the Hajj & Umrah pilgrimages. Approved tour operators names are published in the DMRCA Website. We cannot take responsibility for such occurrences when pilgrims use unauthorized tour operators. They should report such matters to the Fraud Bureau.”
“ We have no contractual relationship with this agent to take action against them. Only the Police and Fraud Bureau can take action against this fraudulent action.”8
It is alleged that the travel agent who has been operating from an office in Maradana had taken money from the 42 pilgrims for a full package including passage, internal travel within the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah and lodging too.On their wayback home, they were given dummy tickets for their departure.
