Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons said Wednesday rackets that fleece tourists have to be busted, two months after a Belgian tourist was forced to leave India within a day after being allegedly harassed in Delhi.
"I have written to the police commissioner and an arrest has already been made in the case. India is a safe place and such isolated incidents happen once in a while. However, it's important that when they happen, we take immediate action. The important thing is to bust such rackets in the country in which tourists are fleeced and harassed," he told PTI.
The Belgian national, who arrived in Delhi on December 6, was harassed by several people, including an auto-rickshaw driver and a travel agent, following which the victim left India the next day, the police had said.
The travel agent, Imran Latha (30), was arrested on Tuesday. Latha and his brother allegedly cheated her by selling a cheap hotel package and making her believe that her original booking was cancelled because of protests near the hotel, the officer had said.
The tourist informed the Belgium embassy about the incident, which got in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). A staffer from the hotel, where she was supposed to stay, picked her up from the place where she was put up.
As per a report by the Ministry of Tourism, there were 1.55 crore (10.55 million) foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) last year, a growth of 5.2 per cent from 1.03 crore (10.03 million) in 2017.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
