Kerala houseboat industry under scanner for sex tourism

August 31, 2014

Alappuzha, Aug 31: The district administration has initiated steps for monitoring the houseboat industry following reports of sex tourism and possibility of extremist elements using the facilities.

Kerala houseboatThe move follows an alert from additional director general of police (intelligence) A Hemachandran. District collector N Padmakumar has sought reports from the district police chief and the port officer— who is responsible for issuing licences to houseboats—in this regard.

"The ADGP alerted us that there is no efficient monitoring of the houseboat industry. He wanted us to take action against sex tourism and check details of those renting these houseboats. He even warned us that houseboats could turn a safe haven for extremists," Padmakumar said.

He said the district administration would soon form squads in association with port department and police and start raiding houseboats in September.

People associated with the industry confirmed reports of sex tourism. "We have arranged sex workers for some guests who demanded such services. However, we try to avoid such guests," said Akhil, a houseboat employee from Muhamma.

Anu Renjith, district manager of state AIDS control society's 'Suraksha' project, said 800 of 1,528 sex workers in Alappuzha worked in association with the industry. She said only 20 houseboat operators had allowed the society to install condom boxes in their boats as part of its safe-sex initiative.

District tourism promotion council secretary C Pradeep also said not all houseboat operators followed its directives. "Only 637 of the 1,000-1,200 houseboats operating in the district have completed the registration process. We had stopped giving permission for new houseboats last year but new houseboats are still being launched."

He said all houseboat operators were instructed to keep a clients' register following the houseboat accident in Punnamada Lake on January 26 last year, which claimed four lives. "They were also directed to submit the register to the DTPC for inspection but they protested against it, We don't have a clear picture about tourists hiring houseboats."

He said around 2,59,000 domestic tourists and 58,000 foreign tourists had visited the district last year, as per the records from hotels and resorts.

R R Joshiraj, a major houseboat operator, said the industry never encouraged sex tourism. "Such instances could be there. But the majority are ready to cooperate with the government in cracking down such illegal practices," he added.

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Agencies
May 6,2020

A man posed as Superintendent of Police (SP), called up a subordinate police official and asked him to get his mobile phone repaired or face the consequences. But, his bluff was later called and the man landed in lockup.

Azamgarh SP Triveni Singh said the 23-year-old youth, Shubham Upadhyay, is the son of a farmer. He was preparing for competitive exams when his phone developed a snag on Saturday. He tried to reach out to local mechanics, but they were unavailable to fix it due to the lockdown.

Upadhyay used a free caller identification app to call up the in-charge of the Kotwali police station, K. K. Gupta, and threatened to shunt him out, if he failed to swiftly get the work done. Gupta grew suspicious and eventually caught the youth.

n his statement to the police, Shubham Upadhyay said, "On Sunday noon, I tried to breach the district borders to reach Lucknow to repair my phone, but since there was heavy police presence and barricading, I returned home. Later, I installed a free caller identification app in my handset and mentioned the name as SP Azamgarh and even uploaded a photo of the cop to appear genuine."

He first called SHO, Kotwali to get the phone repaired and was told the handset would be picked up from the SP office in an hour. Then, he called a businessman to bring his SUV and hand over his mobile to the SHO.

But when Upadhyay called the police again to suggest a separate meeting point, he raised suspicion. When the SHO tried to confirm the venue, Upadhyay got hesitant and said he would send a peon.

"I suddenly realised something was fishy and rang up the public relation officer of SP Azamgarh, who denied any such order from the SP. When the caller's number was scanned, it displayed the name of SP Azamgarh," said SHO Gupta.

A trap was laid and when the SHO reached the venue, he found one Praveen Shukla sitting in the vehicle. Police got the address of the accused from Shukla and reached Upadhyay's home in Bilariya locality and arrested him.

Upadhyay has been booked under IT Act and for threatening a public servant.

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News Network
February 10,2020

New Delhi, Feb 10: A 44-year-old man allegedly killed his daughter and son before ending his life by jumping in front of a Delhi metro train at Haiderpur Badli Mor station on Sunday, police said.

No suicide note has been recovered, but police claimed that the man, Madhur Malani, was depressed since his sandpaper-manufacturing factory was closed some six months ago due to financial crunch leaving him jobless. Madhur's parents had been supporting his family financially since then.

He used to stay with his wife Rupali, daughter Samiksha (14) and six-year-old son Shraiyans at a rented house in northwest Delhi's Shalimar Bagh area, they said.

Rupali was not at home when Madhur strangled their children. He might have also smothered their daughter but the exact cause of death would be ascertained only after the post-mortem reports arrive, a police official said.

After killing his two children, he jumped in front of an approaching train at Haiderpur Badli Mor Metro station following which he was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him 'brought dead', the official said.

Metro services on the Yellow Line were briefly delayed due to the incident.

"Delay in services from Samaypur Badli to GTB Nagar due to a passenger on track at Haiderpur Badli Mor," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) tweeted.

After about 15 minutes, it again tweeted that normal services have been restored. The Delhi Metro's Yellow Line connects Samaypur Badli in Delhi to HUDA City Centre in Gurgaon.

The suicide was reported to the police around 5.40 pm while the Shalimar Bagh Police station received a call about the killings around 6.50 pm.

On reaching the house, police found bodies of the children lying in beds in two rooms. During enquiry, it was learnt that their father has left the house, a senior police officer said.

While police were trying to trace Madhur, they learnt about a suicide at the metro station. On verifying the details, it surfaced that Madhur committed suicide after killing his children, the officer said.

Rupali told police that she had gone to a nearby market around 3 pm and on returning home she found the bodies of her children while her husband was missing.

A case under relevant sections of the IPC has been registered and investigation was underway, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Vijayanta Arya said.

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News Network
June 17,2020

Moradabad, Jun 17: Two children died after they accidentally got locked inside a car while playing in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad, the police said.

Four children, aged between 4 and 7 years, locked themselves inside the car while playing and were found unconscious soon after, the police added.

"All four children were found unconscious in a car and they were taken to the hospital. Two of them died and the other two are undergoing treatment at the hospital," said Amit Kumar Anand, superintendent of police (city) Moradabad.

The children were related to each other, the police said.

The man who owns the car said the children had locked themselves inside. "When we reached, the children were in an unconscious state. Two of the four children died. The incident occurred around 8 am."

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