Staff appointed to man the entry point are involved in unethical behavior towards tourists visiting this historical destination
Palghar : The Waliv police have arrested one while around four are still absconding in connection with an assault on a cameraman working with an electronic channel on Sunday. He along with his friends had assaulted the cameraman while the latter was video shooting the waterfalls and tourists at Tungareshwar in Vasai east. More shocking was the fact that the accused is the driver of Vasai range forest officer M T Ahire and had been employed on contract basis.
On the evening of June 27 around 5 pm the complainant, cameraman Sandeep Lokhande working with news channel Mi Marathi, reached Tungareshwar to complete his story on waterfall and tourists as this is a very popular picnic spot. During monsoon this historically important tourist spot is jam-packed with people from the neighboring cities thronging to enjoy the water fall and the nature surrounding it. Assuming that Lokhande was filming people, the accused, Vaibhav Bhoir, along with his friends got down from their Innova vehicle (number 99 as Lokhande couldn’t take the entire number since he was in severe pain) attacked him and beat him black and blue. Lokhande ended up losing all his data as the group also destroyed his high end camera and accessories and stole his expensive mobile phone. Later, sources confirmed that Bhoir was allegedly consuming liquor with his friends when they spotted Lokhande doing his job and got scared. They attacked him fearing that they would be exposed and feared legal action.
The people employed to maintain security at the entry gate are all on contract basis and resemble goons and show no etiquettes to tourists and are often seen using unprofessional language. Absence of CCTV at the entry point only adds to their confidence and are also seen bothering college students visiting here.
While speaking to FPJ, Ahire confirmed that Bhoir was his driver and said, “I have returned from my native place today itself and will visit cops tomorrow to check the details. I have already instructed that no tourist should be bothered by my staff.”
Police officials said that the hunt is on for the other accused who are on the run. All the accused have been booked under sections 379, 427 and 34 of the related law.
Vishal Rajemahadik
