Representative image showing traffic police.
Credit: iStock Photo
Panaji: A group of Goa BJP MLAs on Thursday met state DGP Alok Kumar to complain that tourists were being subjected to "harassment" by the traffic police personnel under the pretext of checking documents of vehicles rented by them.
The legislators claimed that due to such harassment, the number of tourists visiting the state was going down.
BJP MLAs Michael Lobo (Calangute), Kedar Naik (Saligao) and Delilah Lobo (Siolim) met the Director General of Police (DGP), seeking that instructions be issued to the traffic department personnel for stopping harassment being faced by tourists.
"The traffic police personnel stop tourists, who rent two-wheelers and other vehicles for sightseeing, without visible violations. They are stopped even as necessary documents are shown," Lobo said.
Talking to reporters later, the Calangute MLA said the operators of rent-a-vehicle service should be held responsible if proper documents are not found.
"After the tourists are stopped, sometimes they have to wait for almost 15 minutes before a senior police official arrives to check their documents like licence," he said.
There have been instances wherein a tourist was stopped nine times a day by the traffic police to check the vehicle documents, he said.
Due to all this, tourists go back with bad memories, Lobo added.
According to the BJP legislator, the DGP has agreed to instruct the traffic police department not to harass the tourists.
MLA Naik said the DGP has said a QR code-based system would be introduced to ensure that once the vehicle-related documents of a particular tourist are checked, the same person does not have to go through the process again on the same day.
Delilah Lobo said the proposed QR code would be a welcome step as tourism inflow is getting affected due to such behaviour.
"International tourists are opting to drop Goa from their vacation list. The entire industry is dependent on domestic tourists," he said.