Puri: The district administration has provided financial assistance to altogether 65 tourists who were robbed by the miscreants in the Holy City in the last four years.
The administration has provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs 1, 67, 461 from the Tourist Emergency Fund (TEF) to the distressed visitors in last four years, said sources in the district tourism office.
“The administration usually provides financial assistance to tourists who either lost their valuables or faced robbery in the city. It is mandatory to lodge complaints with police for seeking assistance from the TEF. We also look into the veracity of the complaints,” said Tourism department assistant director Bijay Jena.
According to sources in the district tourism office, the administration had provided monetary assistance to four tourists in 2015 while the figure was 10 in 2016 and 17 in 2017. However, altogether 34 tourists had availed assistance from the TEF in 2018. “Four tourists have been provided aid from the TEF till February 27, this year,” said the source.
It is learnt that some miscreants used to target tourists on the beach and loot their money and other valuables.
Rabi Singh Yadav of Rayagada had lost his wallet while roaming on the beach on the New Year’s Day. He had lodged a complaint in this regard with the Sea Beach police. The administration had provided him Rs 2,000 assistance after investigating the case, sources said.
Some miscreants had looted money and other valuables from Ramchandra Yadav and his family of Bihar on the beach January 18. The family was granted Rs 7,000 from the TEF after police investigation in the incident.
Similarly, Birupakhya Nayak of Bhadrak and Sridhar Khilar of Kendrapara had availed assistance of Rs 1,000 each from the TEF January 30, sources said.
