KOLKATA: The series of incidents of West Bengal policemen getting beaten up by general public does not seem to stop.
Drunk tourists on Monday evening beat up policemen, including women police of Mandarmoni coastal police station, civic volunteers, divers and a hotel manager after they were prevented from entering the sea in an inebriated condition, in the popular beach Mandarmoni in southern West Bengal.
In the past one month, 6 people, all tourists from Kolkata died in Mandarmoni. Three of them died after colliding while participating in a car race in an inebriated condition in the wide beach and three tourists died while bathing in the sea in a drunk state.
In the wake of these events, Purba Medinipur district magistrate had issued orders not to let any tourist enter the waters in an inebriated condition. Heavy police force were also deployed in the 6 beaches of the district in the wake of the deaths.
However, 7 Kolkata tourists on Sunday wanted to show the middle finger to all the precautions put in place for tourist safety.
According to a Mandarmoni local, the 7 tourists -- 4 men and three women -- had reached the coastal town on Monday morning and started drinking till evening.
"After getting drunk, they went to the beach and tried to enter the waters. The divers present there prevented them from entering the waters. To this, they argued with them and allegedly manhandled them. Seeing the commotion, civic volunteers present there came and tried to make the tourists understand that they were being prevented for their own safety. To this, the inebriated tourists beat the volunteers too," the local said.
Amid the commotion, patrolling cops of Mandarmoni coastal police station reached the spot and prevented the tourists from entering the waters at any cost and informed the police station to send in women cops.
"The women cops came and were preparing to take the women back to their hotel but the women started beating up the women cops. However, cops somehow took them back to their hotel," another local source said.
At the hotel the manager was asked to take care of the tourists. The manager, on preventing the tourists to bathe in the beach, was beaten up mercilessly by the women and his head was seriously injured.
CCTV footage of the hotel shows two women beating up the manager from both sides.
Cases have been booked against 6 accused tourists and were arrested by the Mandarmoni Coastal Police. They were produced in Contai court on Monday morning.