"Athithi Devo Bhawa (Guest is God)" continues...

He told them that since the customs duty on any export made by Indian nationals was prohibitive (basically, an incorrect piece of
information), visiting tourists could mail small parcels with jewellery or precious stones to themselves back in their own country. If this route was followed, tourists could save on exorbitant taxes and sell the jewellery at huge profits on reaching home, the goon suggested.

The two girls declined the offer and said they were not interested. By this time the number of goons in the shop had increased to ten. The girls by then had already been in that shop for over six hours. It became clear to them that they were being held captive. To get out of the situation, they agreed to do as they were being told and attempt to escape as and when an opportunity came their way. They were asked to hand over their credit cards and passports to the goons who prepared fake bills, prepared small parcels addressed to the tourists, forcibly took their signatures and withdrew huge amounts of money from their credit/debit cards.

Judy and Joan hoped they would now be allowed to go. However, only Joan was let off with instructions to go the hotel, fetch Judy’s and her own baggage. Joan was also instructed to leave a message for their other friends that Judy and she were leaving for a bird sanctuary.

When Joan returned from the hotel, Judy and Joan were forced to get into a car and driven off to Delhi. Mike a.k.a. Mikesh and Noorie drove the car by turn and reached Delhi past midnight. They reached a circular post office (Gol Dakhana) from where the parcels, prepared in Mike’s Jaipur shop, were mailed to Judy and Joan c/o Main Post Office, London.

To be continued...