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Goa police step up security drive

— Photo: Paul Noronha

Safety concerns: A file picture of tourists at the Calangute beach in Goa. The tourism industry in the State is being bombarded with enquiries about safety and security.

PANAJI: Stepping up the security drive in the costal tourist belt of Goa, the police on Wednesday continued their screening of Kashmiris, Lamanis and others, including overstaying foreigners, in the beach belt.

The police move is part of the tightening up of security following the recent Mumbai terror strikes targeting hotels. Significantly, Goa is one of the leading international tourist destinations known for grand celebrations of Christmas and New Year by the hospitality industry with a high presence of foreigners, Indian VIPS and VVIPs, business and film celebrities.

The police action is coming in the wake of the tourism industry’s petition to the State Government early this week that it was facing cancellation of bookings from foreign tourists and was being bombarded with enquiries by tourists, foreign tour operators and agencies about the level of safety and security of tourists in Goa.

On Tuesday, the police started the drive by making surprise and random checks at coastal hotels — big and small — to ascertain the safety steps taken by the hotels. Police teams scanned hotels, both starred and medium, besides resorts on the entry of tourists, both domestic and foreign, in the hotels in recent times.

Ralph de Souza, president of Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), which represents the hospitality industry and tour operators, confirmed the security drive by the police and said that the hotels and tour operators had been cooperating with the law enforcement agencies over security issues.

“We want the right signal to go out about Goa’s safety and security ahead of Christmas and New Year celebrations. We have been taking steps since long to sensitise various stakeholders of the industry to be vigilant regarding security and safety of the tourists,” he said.

As many as 10 foreign and domestic tourists came under the scanner of the Goa police during the surprise checks in hotels located along the coastal belt in south Goa on Tuesday.

Though the police declined to divulge the nationality of the foreign tourists, some of them were found staying in hotels for three and more months, raising suspicions about their presence and their activities in the State during their stay.

Refusing to take chances in view of the terror strike in Mumbai, the police have constituted teams to probe the presence of these tourists in Goa, their background and other activities, said sources in the police.

“At this stage, we do not like to disclose the identities of the guests in these hotels, but we would definitely go to the bottom of the issue to ascertain the activities of these tourists during their stay in Goa,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Umesh Gaonkar told presspersons on Tuesday.

The police teams also scanned hotel registration documents whether the establishments were maintaining details pertaining to the antecedents of guests as per rules.

The police have been rounding up Lamanis found loitering on beaches. A group of students from Afghanistan, some Kashmiris selling wares on the beaches of north Goa, etc., have all come under police scrutiny following the terror attacks in Mumbai.

On Tuesday night, a Police Inspector, Nelson Albuquerque, was suspended after the Inspector-General of Police Kishan Kumar, who conducted a surprise check at the Patradevi check-post of north Goa border, caught the police personnel collecting money from incoming vehicles. Two more constables were suspended for bribery and dereliction of duty at the check-posts on Wednesday.

The Congress-led Government seems to have been compelled to take action on the security front after the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday demanded convening of the Assembly at the earliest to discuss the issue of security in the backdrop of the terror attacks in Mumbai, especially with Christmas and New Year season round the corner.

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