TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: A group of Russian tourists were allegedly threatened of assault by around 25 locals who stopped a tourist bus in which they were travelling and assaulted its driver in the early hours of January 27, at Calangute.
The Calangute police surprisingly registered a non-cognisable complaint despite the driver, originally from Bijapur, was left profusely bleeding after the attack.
According to one of the 11 tourists who had boarded the bus for Collem, around 25 locals armed with wooden sticks stopped the bus near a shopping mall at around 5:30 am.
“They were very aggressive and shouting. They pulled the bus driver from the cabin and started beating him. Two Russian passengers came out of the bus to help the driver but were not allowed to get down from the bus by the taxi drivers who forced them to sit inside and locked the bus,” said one of them in a statement issued to Herald on Monday.
The unidentified locals allegedly, used abusive language and asked the foreigners to leave Goa and also threatened them of assault them if they intervene. The police, who reached the spot in 30 minutes, allegedly did not act against the thugs and the tourists were forced to walk to their hotel as they were not allowed to board any vehicles. The driver has lodged a complaint against unknown taxi drivers.
Reacting to the incident, Russian Consulate’s advocate in Goa Vikram Varma said, “I understand that the Russian tourists, some of whom were senior citizens, were locked up in the mini bus for nearly an hour. They were terrified of being assaulted by these unknown persons. They would like to leave Goa and return to their country as soon as possible. Their holiday has turned into a nightmare.
With information flowing freely on the Social Media, this incident will certainly impact tourism. The matter needs serious reflection on the ground reality and immediate steps need to be taken to ensure a more conducive environment for tourism.”
The Russians alleged that the driver, who has sustained serious bruises, was first taken to the police station and only later to the primary health centre from where he was shifted to the district hospital.
