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Goa police to brief hotels after tourists allege assault by nightclub staff
A group of tourists hailing from Uttar Pradesh alleged that they were roughed up by the bouncers at a nightclub over what they claimed was a minor issue
PANAJI: The Goa police will brief the staff, including security staff at hospitality establishments in the state, after a group of tourists hailing from Uttar Pradesh alleged that they were roughed up by the ‘bouncers’ at a nightclub over what they claimed was a minor issue.
Speaking to the media, Goa director general of police Alok Kumar said that while there are situations in which security staff, also known as bouncers, need to intervene, beyond a point, not involving the police and taking the law into their own hands will invite legal action.
“I understand that clubs need bouncers because in clubs all kinds of people visit, and there are situations in which they have to intervene. But if they can limit this kind of behaviour, if they know how to handle customers who are behaving in an unruly or bad manner and to what extent they can go… because beyond a point, you will have to involve the police,” Kumar said.
“If you don’t involve the police and take the laws into your own hands, then that is definitely not acceptable and legal action will follow as has happened in this case,” he said.
On Sunday night, a group of tourists from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh said they were assaulted by the bouncers of a club after they got into an altercation over what they said was a minor issue.
The Goa police booked the staff of the night club Romeo Lane, Vagator, a coastal village in north Goa after the tourists, who were revelling at the club, claimed that they were roughed up and assaulted by the club staff including security personnel.
Vaibhavi Chandel, 24, a resident of Varanasi, complained that on November 2 at 2am at Romeo Lane Restaurant, Vagator, that Ajay Kavtikar, the manager of the restaurant, abused the complainant and her family members in filthy language and further along with the security staff assaulted her brother Yuvraj Chandel, Sihivansh Singh and other family members and with implements and later attacked her by pulling her shirt due to which she fell on the ground.
On the other hand, the general manager of the club claimed that the tourists were behaving in an unruly manner, which forced the establishment to have them escorted out by ‘bouncers’ leading to an altercation in which they were left injured.
“The tourist season is now beginning and so the superintendent of police (north Goa) will be speaking to people from the hospitality industry -- shack owners or club owners, hotels and guest houses, where if customers are behaving badly, the hospitality industry and police need to have clarity on how to handle each situation. In this situation, the police have taken legal action but the hospitality industry should also know how to respond should such a situation arise,” Kumar said.
Last month, a tourist from UP was killed for attempting to steal a Mahindra Thar SUV he had rented using a fake identity.
