When in Goa, be wary of extortionists, thugs and robbers, disguised as touts or even friends -- that was the message -- sent out by the Japanese consulate in Mumbai barely a week ago.
It has come to light that a Japanese tourist was befriended by members of an organised gang, who first befriended him, hung out with him, and took him sightseeing before finally pouncing on him and robbing him dry of all his belongings including his phone after confining him to his hostel room. In all, he lost more than 1.5 million yen, the equivalent of Rs 9.27 lakh after they even forced him to share his PIN after assaulting and threatening to kill him.
Regrettably, his case is not alone. Tourists, including domestic ones, have complained that in the past they have been approached by people offering them legitimate services as well as borderline illegitimate services like escort and massage services, but are instead taken to confined spaces where they are then assaulted and robbed of their phones, their wallets, and cards and are forced to share card details or threatened with dire consequences.
Others are approached with offers to sell narcotics and are taken to secluded places and beaten and robbed leaving them in a position where they cannot even approach the police since they were looking out for something illegal in the first place.
Despite the best efforts of the police, such cases have only multiplied. Questions need to be asked about the commitment to tourist safety and commitment to protecting Goa’s image as a safe tourist destination.
While on one hand the Goa government have issued advisories and has even banned touting and other illegal activities and has ‘announced’ that they are eager to clear up Goa’s tourist belt of its dark underbelly, on the other hand, coastal police stations have failed to secure vulnerable tourists and effectively crack down on illegitimate services.
The entire coastal belt of north Goa is left to the jurisdiction of two police stations -- Calangute and Anjuna -- whose staff strength leaves a lot to be desired. Police sent to investigate incidents are often outnumbered and they feel vulnerable to being mobbed or harried by groups of touts or even unruly tourists indignant at having been cheated or robbed or exploited by unscrupulous individuals and conmen.
Earlier this tourist season, Goa witnessed an ugly, even if muted, blame game between the tourism department and the Goa Police and the local panchayats with each arm of government claiming that the other was failing in its duty not only to protect the tourists and clean up the coasts but also save Goa’s image as a safe tourist destination.
Similarly, egged on by certain politicians, certain interest groups in Calangute and Candolim even took a protest march against the illegal activities along the coastal belt, however, since then, very little action has taken place and even those protesting seem to have gone silent.
For Goa to help rebuild its image, the Government needs to put its money where its mouth is -- including strengthening the staff and the number of officers at the coastal belt police stations, freeing up police for patrolling duty and working in tandem with the local panchayats and the tourism department to identify locations of illegal activities and a crackdown on them.
