BHUBANESWAR: Against the backdrop of a recent assault on a tourist couple by the staff of a private bus at Puri, the police on Thursday revived its tourist assistance system. A helpline number (6370967100), which had been lying defunct for the past few months, has been relaunched for the safety of tourists.
“We have relaunched the helpline number following the recent unpleasant situation with the tourist couple. Tourists in distress can dial the number for any assistance from us round the clock. This is the single window contact number for tourists if they face any trouble anywhere in Puri,” Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh said.
On February 1, staff of a private bus allegedly manhandled the tourist couple, who had travelled in the vehicle on sightseeing in and around Puri. The couple alleged that the bus staff dropped them in a place, which was far off from their hotel. When they requested the driver to drop them near their hotel, the bus staff abused the couple and manhandled them. Based on their complaint, the Sea Beach police station had arrested the bus’s driver.
Taking serious note of the incident, the Puri SP on Thursday held a meeting with the office bearers of Puri private bus owners’ association and asked them to sensitize their staff to deal with tourists politely. “We have made it mandatory for all buses to prominently display the tourist helpline number (6370967100) in their vehicles. The bus owners will regularly organise programmes to teach the bus drivers and helpers lessons on good conduct and etiquette. Misconduct against tourists would be dealt seriously,” Singh said.
A few years ago, the state government had opened tourist police cells at Sea Beach, Konark, Brahmagiri (all in Puri district), Dhauli, Nandankanan, Lingaraj (all in Bhubaneswar), Gopalpur (Ganjam district) and Chandipur (Balasore district) police stations to look into the grievances of the tourists. However, most of the cells are defunct owing to shortage of manpower and logistics.