Karwar: Angered over the astronomical prices of private bus tickets during the Diwali weekend, a man from Honnavar in the state decided to book one in the name of Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa. 

Rajesh Shet, a resident of Gundabala village in Honnavar taluk works in a private firm in the state capital. Honnavar of Uttara Kannada district is located about 460 km from Bengaluru. A private bus to his native place from Bengaluru normally costs between Rs 400-600. However, due to the festival weekend, the private tour operator charged him a whopping Rs 1520, which is almost three times the cost. 

The ticket has been booked for the night of October 25. Interestingly, the agency did not object and made the booking in the name of ‘Mr B S Yediyurappa, CM of Karnataka from Bangalore to Honnavar.' He even provided the CM's email address. 

Rajesh also posted a letter and the ticket on social media. His post, in which he tagged the chief minister and his office to draw their attention over the looting by private bus operators, has gone viral overnight. "Many people work in Bengaluru for very less salary. If they want to visit their native, they are forced to shell out Rs 2000 to book a ticket. The government should look into this."

It is a common knowledge that during festivals, private bus operators loot people in broad daylight. Due to a shortage of government buses and in order to have a comfortable journey, many of them opt for private buses. 

Recently, Uttara Kannada Deputy Commissioner Harish Kumar K in a meeting had ordered the RTO officials to take stern action against such private operators, but nothing has happened so far.