Bhubaneswar, Nov. 23: Tourists from Kerala had an encounter with alleged police harassment last evening that they will want to wipe off their travel albums forever.
A family from the southern state, who were in the city on their way to Calcutta from Thiruvananthapuram, had a first-hand experience of how tourism in Odisha is not as rosy as touted by the state government when their vehicle was stopped by police at the Khandagiri Square close to the famous Khandagiri-Udaygiri caves. The cops imposed a penalty on them, saying that their vehicle registration number plate was not in keeping with specified guidelines.
The tourist family alleged that no amount of reasoning would convince the cops. The incident took place when the family of P.K. Rajasekharan, a journalist, stopped near Khandagiri Square and asked the policeman on duty for directions to Rajmahal Square, around 7km away. At this, the policeman demanded to see the documents of the vehicle, which were found to be in order. The cop then asked for the car's pollution certificate, which was also reportedly all right.
The cop then turned his attention to the number plate of the vehicle and said it was not in keeping with specifications and demanded Rs 500 as penalty. Rajasekharan, who was travelling along with his wife, Radhika C. Nair, and their daughter, said: "We had set out from Thiruvananthapuram on November 20 and visited several places on the way, including Visakhapatnam. But never before have we had such an experience."
Rajasekharan said that when the cop insisted on slapping the fine, they paid him Rs100 and took a receipt from him. Then they decided to go to Khandagiri police station, a stone's throw from the spot, as the police officer at the square had "misbehaved" with them.
Rajsekharan said: "But the inspector in charge of the police station did not come to our rescue and insisted that a minimum fine of Rs 100 had to be collected. He asked us to leave the place and, if we so desired, report the matter to his seniors. My contention is that the money is not the problem, the behaviour of the police towards tourists is what is important."
Radhika, who is employed with the Kerala State Institute of Children's Literature, alleged that the police officer did not have manners. "I feel they imposed the fine without reason, because he could not find any fault with our documents. More importantly, when he saw two ladies in the vehicle, he should have been polite instead of shouting at us," she said.
Rajasekharan, a well-known writer and literary critic in Malayalam, said he had experienced such rude behaviour for the first time. "Two years ago, I travelled from Thiruvananthapuram to the Bangladesh border crisscrossing several states, but never once did I encounter such a misadventure," he said.
The journalist, however, had a word of praise for the people of the state. "Today, we went to Konark and some other places. People everywhere were polite and friendly. We are leaving tomorrow, but the behaviour of the policeman has left a bad taste in the mouth," he said.
Deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi said he would conduct an inquiry into the incident.
"We have asked our men to be polite and courteous to tourists coming to state. We have also been conducting sensitisation programmes in this regard. I will ask the police officer concerned about the incident and stringent action will be taken if he is found guilty," said Bhoi.
Sources said that though the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police insist on behavioural change among its personnel, incidents of rude behaviour continue to occur. On February 9 last year, a sub-inspector of police attached to the Mahila police station here was suspended for allegedly slapping an autorickshaw driver at the police station. The sub-inspector allegedly misbehaved with the autorickshaw driver who had rescued two girls from Baramunda bus terminal on February 7 and had gone to the police station to lodge a complaint.
