Uttarakhand / 6 tourists beaten for smoking hookah at Haridwar's Har ki Pauri; video surfaces

Six tourists from Haryana were beaten by locals for smoking hookah at Haridwar's Har ki Pauri and were handed over to the police. "We want to send a message that we won't tolerate such behaviour here," said Kamlesh Upadhyay, SP City Haridwar. Upadhyay further said that more CCTVs would be deployed to prevent such incidents.

Vikrant Shekhawat : Jul 09, 2021, 01:39 PM

Haridwar: Six tourists from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were thrashed by locals for smoking hookah at Haridwar’s Har-ki-Pauri and were handed over to the police.

Rajesh Shah, SHO, Haridwar city police station, told TOI that the tourists were arrested under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

More CCTVs would be deployed near the ghats: SP City

“The incident happened on July 7, and we have arrested 6 tourists. A case has been registered, and the investigation is on. We also want to send a message that we won’t tolerate such behaviour here,” said Kamlesh Upadhyay, SP City Haridwar.

She further said that more CCTVs would be deployed near the ghats to prevent such incidents.

In the video, people were seen sitting at Har-ki-Pauri and smoking hookah. After they started creating a ruckus, locals arrived there, snatched the hookah and destroyed it.

No mockery of religious places will be tolerated any further.
On Thursday, some vidharmis of Haryana and Delhi were smoking hookah while taking a bath at Harki Paidi were given some good treatment by devotess & priests, later handed over to the police. pic.twitter.com/X9oONgn1mX
— 𝕍𝕠𝕪𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕣™🚩🇮🇳 (@V0YAGERTWEETS) July 8, 2021

After the local police station was informed, Har-ki-Pauri police station in-charge Arvind Raturi arrived and took the six youths into custody.

This is not the first time when tourists openly mocked the sanctity of a holy place.

Ganga Sabha demands strict action

On Wednesday, the local police arrested two tourists for smoking hookah at Rishikul ghat. A case was registered against the duo under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

On Sunday night, two people were arrested by Haridwar Police for creating ruckus at Har-ki-Pauri.

The duo, identified as Himanshu Wadhwa, from Delhi’s Rohini sector 20, and Jitendra Kumar from Kasganj, Uttar Pradesh, reportedly danced to Bollywood songs while celebrating a birthday party at the ghat.

Reacting to this, Ganga Sabha, the apex body of priests in Haridwar, demanded strict action saying it will form ghat committees with the help of locals to make pilgrims and tourists aware of their responsibilities.