BHUBANESWAR: The recent incident of a Swedish national being sexually harassed by a sevayat near the north gate of Lingaraj temple here is not the first of a foreign tourist undergoing such traumatic experience.
Yet, the eight tourist police cells which were established with the stated objective of providing safety are struggling with poor infrastructure and manpower, nine years after their establishment.
In 2015, the government had set up the tourist police cells in the state, including three in Bhubaneswar at Lingaraj, Dhauli and Nandankanan to ensure safety and security of tourists at vital tourism destinations.
The sanctioned strength of the tourist cell in Lingaraj police station is one sub-inspector (SI), an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and a havildar along with six constables. However, the cell functions with an ASI and five constables. A cell was later set up in Khandagiri police station but so far its manpower has not been sanctioned by the state government.
Sources said the cell is functioning with the existing manpower of the police station. The sanctioned strength of Nandankanan and Dhauli tourist cells is also the same. But while Nandankanan tourist cell is functioning with one ASI and two constables, Dhauli has just one havildar.
The tourist cell at Lingaraj police station registered 21 cases between 2020 and 2022. The maximum cases were related to theft from tourists. The tourist cell in Dhauli had registered 23 cases during the same period. Out of the eight cases registered in 2022, one was related to burglary and robbery. The Nandankanan tourist cell registered 23 cases too. In 2022, all the cases registered by Nandankanan tourist cell were related to theft.
“A proposal has been sent to the state government to sanction manpower for Khandagiri tourist cell and augment strength in the remaining three. We hope manpower will be enhanced in the cells,” said a senior police officer.
The proposal to set up dedicated tourist cells included special training for personnel and separate uniform for tourist police to distinguish them from regular cops. So far, no special uniform has been sanctioned. The Tourism department was asked to organise training and sensitisation for police personnel posted at tourism destinations.