PANAJI
A joint operation between the Goa Police and the Tourism Department has resulted in the arrest of 30 touts from the Calangute coastal belt.
What’s intriguing is that the operation was carried out by forming teams of policemen from Bicholim, Valpoi, Colvale, and tourist police, instead of roping in the local police.
Superintendent of Police (North) Nidhin Valsan said that the police personnel attached to Calangute police station were kept out of the loop as the illegal touts already know the cops, and could have identified them during the operation.
“We used a different strategy. Over 60 plainclothes policemen from the mentioned PS and tourist police were deployed at Calangute to nab the perpetrators. These policemen tried to approach the people involved in touting, and apprehended them red-handed committing the illegal activity,” the officer added while addressing a press conference in Paryatan Bhavan, Panaji, on Saturday.
The touts were promptly arrested under the Goa Tourist Trade Act and presented before the Directorate of Tourism for further legal action. Valsan said the drive will continue even at other places in the district, to ensure the “problem of touting is contained.”
