FIRs will be registered against all blackmarketeers, clarifies Minister

Mysuru:  All the Gold Cards for Dasara will be sold only through https://mysoredasara.gov.in/ and there is no intermediate arrangements nor any tour agency has been tied up for the purpose, clarified Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dr. Bagadi Gautham, who is also the Dasara Special Officer.

The Gold Card sale timings, the process involved, tickets for Jumboo Savari and Torchlight Parade have been made available on the website and it is a transparent process, he said. The DC has urged the public not to purchase Gold Cards and tickets from unauthorised persons or agencies.

The clarification comes in the wake of reports emerging from Bengaluru that certain travel agencies have booked the Gold Cards in bulk and are selling them in black market for Rs. 7,000 while the price of the actual Gold Card is Rs. 4,999.

The Federation of Associations of Mysuru had lodged a written complaint with the DC saying that one particular travel agency from Bengaluru had booked the Gold Cards and was creating demand thereby selling them for Rs. 7,000.

Producing an audio clip that purportedly contained the conversation between the travel agent and a customer, the Federation questioned the administration how the agency could access hundreds of Gold Cards when only 1,000 of them were printed. Following the complaint, the Mysuru District Administration took legal steps in connection with the reports of blackmarketing.

“The matter has come to my notice, and legal steps have been initiated. The public are requested to buy the gold cards only through online visiting www.mysoredasara.gov.in,” the DC said in a press release.

This morning, Mysuru District Minister S.T. Somashekar told reporters that the DC was seized of the matter and appropriate steps will be taken against blackmarketeers. “FIRs will be registered against organisations and agencies who book the Gold Cards in bulk and sell them in the black market. We printed only 1,000 cards and 500 were sold online. The purchase records are being screened and if anyone has done illegality, they will be punished,” he said. The Minister denied that the sale of Gold Pass in the black market was an insider’s job. “Legal action has been initiated and this is the reason why the Gold Card purchase was restricted to two per person per purchase,” Somashekar said.