Tourism police to be a reality soon

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 23

With a new logo and uniform, the tourism police is all set for its revival in the holy city. The police are about to finalise the plan and around 100 policemen, including women cops, will be imparted special training to help and guide the visitors coming to the state to pay obeisance at Golden Temple and visit other places of historical importance in the city.

To make the tourist cops look different from the regular police, the authorities concerned have got a different uniform with a logo containing the alphabet — i — which stands for information. Special booths are being formed which will be installed at various tourist places and important intersections.

“The new police will also be helpful in curbing snatching incidents. Tourists are the prime targets of anti-social elements. They are often fleeced by unscrupulous persons. The tourism police will guide them so that they may not fall trap to such elements,” said ADCP (City) JS Walia. It is expected to be launched in a couple of months, he added.

Repeated incidents of snatchings from tourists are bringing a bad repute to the city while efforts put in by the local police have failed to bring desired results. It has been banking on the tourism police to curb such instances.

The project of the tourism police has been hanging fire for the past several years. The Amritsar police commissionerate had announced to launch the project by 2014 and cops also underwent training to communicate with tourists in English as well as in Hindi.