16 students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, who had gone to the US, seeking admission in educational institutions, but were sent back, complained that, they had been kept waiting for around six hours at the international airport here, over some ticket issue.

The students after landing at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, claimed that, they were stranded for around 6 hours, at the airport, due to some issue about the return ticket fares with the airline, they travelled in. They also complained that, few authorities at the airport, took a longer time, for checking their documents.

Upon receiving the complaints from their children, the parents approached Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali, who had landed at the airport at that time from Srinagar, and sought his intervention in the matter.

Speaking on the issue, Mahmood Ali said, “I asked the airline officials and also authorities to first allow the students to leave the airport. I told them they have already faced problems in the US. After I took up the matter, the students were allowed to leave the airport.”

“Despite having all the necessary documents in order, we have been sent back... We are trying to know the exact reasons,” one of the students said.

Another student said, "We have already spent Rs 3-4 lakh and now after being sent back it is a financial loss for us".

Last month, Air India had stopped 19 students from boarding its flight to San Francisco at the international airport here on the grounds that, the two universities to which they had been admitted were under "scrutiny".

The AI also cited the plight of 14 students who had travelled to San Francisco, after enrolling in two universities and were deported. However, the universities, namely Silicon Valley in San Jose, California and North Western Polytechnic College in Fremont, California had denied reports of them being "blacklisted" by the US government.

On January 2, over 20 students, who had returned from the US to Hyderabad, had alleged that they were "ill-treated" and some of them were even handcuffed at the New York airport by the US authorities.

By Phani Ch