Lensmen annoy Goa police

They took pictures of President Pratibha Patil on a private visit

A photograph of President Pratibha Patil on a south Goa beach surrounded by tourists carried by some newspapers in their Wednesday's editions appears to have annoyed police officials.

The President is currently on a private visit to the State. She arrived in Goa with members of her family on Monday and will leave for New Delhi on Thursday. On Tuesday, she visited south Goa's Benaulim beach.

Vice-president of the Goa Union of Journalists Soiry Komarpant, a photographer attached to a local newspaper, told

The Hindu that the south Goa police called three local photo-journalists who had shot Ms. Patil's pictures on the beach on Tuesday and recorded their statements.

Ganadeep Sheldekar, Soiru Komarpant and Arvind Tengse were called to the Margao police station and asked from where they took the pictures and the type of cameras used. No case has been registered.

A senior police official initially indicated that the pictures should not have been taken as the President was on a private visit. The photo-journalists stood their ground stating that they were doing their job.

Mr. Komarpant said the police action had angered the photo-journalists and they have decided to take up the matter with the local journalists' bodies.

“The photo-journalists were just doing their job. They were nowhere near the President. If there were lapses on the part of the security, that is the job of the police to investigate,” ex- president of the Photo-journalists' Association of Goa said.