Watch: Bengaluru family stuffs father in bag, tries to courier him to Mangaluru in protest over soaring bus fares

• Family tried to courier elderly man to protest bus fare hike
• Courier staff refused; police identified the group via CCTV
• No charges filed; family staged stunt for social media attention

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In a bizarre protest over soaring bus ticket prices, a family stuffed an elderly man inside a gunny bag and attempted to courier him from Bengaluru to Mangaluru, triggering a tense confrontation at a courier office near Sadashivnagar on Tuesday evening., according to a report in TOI.

The group of six — which included two women and the elderly man himself — walked into a courier agency at Vinayaka Circle near Vyalikaval in the city's Central Business District and requested that their "package" be sent to Mangaluru. When agency staff asked what was in the large gunny bag, one of the group opened it — and out emerged an elderly man, the report added.

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Stunned staffers flatly refused to process the request and asked what was going on. The group insisted they wanted the man couriered to another district, but staff told them this was simply not possible. The group, far from being deterred, challenged the staff, questioning why they were even running a business if they could not fulfil such a request,  the report cited a police official as saying.

The situation escalated further. The group demanded compensation from the agency, claiming the exercise had wasted their time and effort. They gave the elderly man water to drink — which he drank — and then walked out, vowing to find another courier agency that would, for sure, agree to their request, the officer told TOI.

The commotion drew attention from passers-by and neighbouring shopkeepers who peered out to make sense of the scene. As police arrived and began interacting with those present, it emerged that several members of the group had been recording social media reels on their mobile phones throughout.

Police reviewed CCTV footage from the courier agency and adjacent establishments and successfully identified the group, who all turned out to be members of the same family. A young woman admitted to police that her family had staged the prank to highlight the steep rise in bus ticket prices ahead of the Ugadi and Ramzan festivities. She said her elderly father had been unable to travel to Mangaluru owing to the high fares.

No charges have been filed against the family. Police said they would act if the courier agency's owner or manager filed a formal complaint against the family for the stunt.