DEHRADUN, India – In the wake of the brutal murder of Delhi couple Avijit Paul, 24 and Moumita Das, 27, the Uttarakhand police are mulling over the idea of introducing a specialized force to ensure safety of national and international tourists coming to the state.
On Sunday, Uttarakhand Director General of Police B S Sidhu emphasized on the need to have tourist police, which can protect, assist and guide travelers in all 13 districts of the state. While speaking to TOI, the DGP said his department is seriously considering sending a proposal to the government about setting up such a force for a state which earns maximum revenue (about 70%) from tourism. “If our maximum revenue is coming from tourism, what is the harm in raising a tourist force to provide a security cover to travelers and guide them properly,” said Sidhu.
He also said that he has asked the top brass of police to prepare a detailed proposal to be presented to the home department. Sidhu, however, expressed unhappiness over the way the home department keeps sitting on important proposals relating to maintenance of law and order in the state.
“Like many other pending proposals which were sent a couple of months ago, this too may be kept pending,” said additional DG (law and order) R S Meena. Referring to a proposal sent by former Nainital SSP G S Martolia to raise a small contingent of tourist police for Nainital, DGP Sidhu said although the proposal was made purely on experiment basis, it turned out to be extremely fruitful.
Martolia, who is currently serving as DIG of Kumaon range, said after he recruited over 50 tourist cops on experiment basis, he realized that they were doing a fantastic job in not only guiding people, but also ensuring that they were safe and were not duped by locals.
DGP Sidhu said after sending the proposal to home department, he will also urge chief minister Harish Rawat to help clear the proposal to this effect.