BELAGAVI
Goans visiting Belagavi may soon heave a sigh of relief as the city traffic police are likely to go soft on Goan commuters who have begun visiting Belagavi for shopping or on a weekend.
Apart from local commuters, the traffic police had been accused of unnecessarily questioning owners of Goan vehicles for petty reasons in the name of checking of papers and other documents. These incidents were reported at Udyambag, near Gogte Circle, near Railway Station.
To make matters worse, Goan visitors are completely ignorant of Kannada and not so fluent in Hindi, which has landed them in further trouble.
Local business establishments also raised the issue of harassment towards Goan visitors.
“Just to get away from police harassment, many of them end up paying hefty fines. This has scared them and many Goans refrain from visiting Belagavi. This is adversely affecting business in Belagavi,” a local trader lamented.
Taking up the cause on priority, Belagavi (South) MLA Abhay Patil said he has urged Police Commissioner Dr Tyagarajan to intervene in this matter.
“I have received complaints from local traders and Goan authorities, including some friends in this regard, that Goans visiting the city are harassed for petty reasons. The business in Belagavi, which is largely dependent on Goa, has already been suffering due to the Covid lockdown. I have urged the police commissioner to direct traffic police to be soft and courteous with Goans,” MLA Patil said.
