Two of the five accused arrested in Swiss tourists' assault in Agra claim to be minors

Following a nationwide uproar over the assault on two Swiss tourists at the Fatehpur Sikri monument in Agra, the local police has arrested all five culprits found to be involved in the incident. Two of the accused are said to be minors.

According to the police sources, the arrests took place when Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was in Agra promising that strict action will be taken against all those who were involved in this incident.

SSP Agra Amit Pathak told India Today that as soon as the attack happened, the local police reached the spot and requested the two tourists to file an FIR. But they did not.'

So, the police registered an FIR by itself and started an investigation. Within three days of registering the FIR, the culprits were identified and arrested. Out of these five, two are claiming to be minors. The police are interrogating all of them.

Voicing the tourism industry's shock over this incident, Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber secretary Vishal Sharma said that on one hand, the central and state governments are talking about tourism promotion and on the other hand, the image of India is being spoiled by such incidents.

Demanding that the tourism department should form a security plan for tourists, Sharma said that the jurisdiction of Tourism Police should be extended to all tourist places.

He further said that Fatehpur Sikri is on the border of Rajasthan and over 40 minutes away from Agra. Therefore, forming a tourism police station in Fatehpur Sikri may not be a bad idea. Such tourism police stations could also be set up in Mathura and Vrindavan which are frequented by a large number of tourists, he added.

Voicing his concerns over the demands for punishing the minors involved in this incident, he said that the minors should not be punished. Instead, they should be reformed by sensitising them towards the tourists and detailing them to a few years of mandatory social work at various monuments of the city and even outside under the supervision of an NGO or the Tourism Police.

Sharma said the offenders who are adults should also be given a punishment that is combined with some social work so that they do not end up being irreparably corrupted by the prison system in their youth.

Notably, when Yogi Adityanath was asked about his government's stand on touts, commonly called as 'lapkas', active at the various monuments of Agra, he had made it clear that his government had a zero-tolerance policy towards such delinquents and anti-social elements prowling around the tourist places. Such people will be made to leave the city itself if they did not mend their ways, he said.