Mussoorie, June 3
The absence of adequate parking and the unruly behavior by employees a parking area has led to fleecing of tourists that often results in skirmishes with them, who end up as major sufferers on frequent basis in Mussoorie.

One such incident occurred at Company Garden roadside parking on Saturday evening where tourists from Meerut, who were on a day's visit to Company Garden, were beaten up badly by employees of the contractor running the roadside parking when they refused to pay more for parking their vehicle at the site.

According to the tourists Mahendar Singh and Narendar Singh from Meerut, the employees of the contractor managing the parking at Company Garden stopped them a kilometre away from the main gate of the garden and demanded Rs 50 as parking fee, which they paid duly. Following that when they arrived at the main gate of Company Garden to park their vehicle, Dzire Swift, the parking employees began demanding Rs 50 as the parking fee once again. When they tried to oppose the move the parking employees began hurling abuses at them, demanding more for the same service, and when the duo blatantly refused to pay any extra amount, they were beaten up by a gang that surrounded them from all sides.

The pleas of the female members of the tourist family were also ignored and the beating continued until several minutes, resulting in severe injuries and torn clothes of the tourists. The brawl came to end only after the intervention of the shopkeepers around in the area. No police personnel was present at th site when the incident occurred on Saturday. The tourists also showed the various parking receipts with denominations of Rs 50 and Rs 100 to the mediapersons in their possession, indicating the fleecing done by the parking contractor here. The tourists then tried to contact the police by dialing emergency number 100 but received no response. Battered and bruised, the tourists left the spot without registering any case, vowing never to visit Mussoorie again. The police station in-charge, Parikshat Kumar, when informed did not show much interest in the matter, otherwise the whole incident could have been avoided.

Later at night when the whole incident was brought to the notice of SP, City, Dehradun, Neeru Garg, she immediately summoned the Mussoorie police station in-charge Parikshat Kumar who showed his ignorance in the whole matter. Agitated at the callous reply, Neeru Garg then directed other police officials to reach Mussoorie and apprehend the perpetrators at any cost. The Circle officer (CO), Mussoorie, MS Pharaswan, accompanied by his colleagues and one platoon of PAC reached the town around midnight and began searching for the culprits. The police today were able to apprehend three persons involved in the case of which, one related to the Bharat Kumain, contractor of the parking area, was also apprehended.

The three have been identified as Rahul, Kuldeep and Harish, and a case has been registered against them under Sections 151, 323, and were presented in the SDM's court at Dehradun.

The SP, City, has also set up an enquiry against the Mussoorie police station in-charge on his dubious role in the whole incident and has also stepped the security arrangements by deploying additional forces at the all the tourist spots of the town.

When contacted, CO, Mussoorie, MS Pharaswan, said that after apprehending the three culprits they have also constituted an enquiry on what conditions the Municipal Council had awarded the contract to the alleged contractor Bharat Kumain.

When contacted the Municipal Council president, OP Uniyal said that before allotting the parking contract, the Municipal Council clearly directs the contractor to fix the rate, which is not more than Rs 40. He has directed his officials to investigate the matter of overcharging from the tourists, and if found guilty, punitive action would be initiated against the contractor of the parking area.

On the other hand, Rohitash Sharma was not clear on the tariff decided for the said parking and was not sure of the amount of tariff designated by MC, thus indicating some clandestine understanding between the MC officials and the contractor under which the parking had been awarded earlier.

He, however, affirmed that the whole matter will be investigated thoroughly and strict action taken against the contractor, if found guilty.

The local residents and the public representatives have condemned the incident and have aired their resentment against such ghastly incidents that and are holding the Municipal Council responsible for the whole incident as it was the same agency that awarded the contract to such miscreants who have brought the town down in shame. They also demanded strict action against the contractor, as he was the person who employed such miscreants at the parking in Company Garden. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has also been hurt with the incident against the tourists here. Through a press note released today in which it was stated: " Four persons were arrested for misbehaving with tourists on Saturday night. As soon as the incident had come to the notice of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, he immediately directed the District Magistrate and SSP to take action. On the complaint made against the police personnel for their lackadaisical attitude, Chief Minister had asked the SSP to initiate the probe and take appropriate action. Bahuguna said that any kind of misbehavior with tourists would not be tolerated. He has directed the officials to ensure safety of the tourists in the state."

Dehradun, June 3
Pledging support to yoga guru Baba Ramdev's anti-corruption movement, Bharat Swabhiman members in Uttttarakhand today observed a fast at state capital, Dehradun.

While a day-long fast was organised at Pandit Deendayal Park, Bharat Swabhiman members also took out a candlelight march later in the evening, which started from the park and culminated at Clock Tower. Bharat Swabhiman members pledged to fully support yoga guru Baba Ramdev's struggle against corruption.

KK Rana, convener of Bharat Swabhiman, Dehradun, KK Agarwal, Dinesh and Ratan Lal were among prominent participants in the fast.

HARIDWAR: While yog guru Swami Ramdev sat on a one-day agitation at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi along with Gandhian Anna Hazare, in his support thousands of activists of Bharat Swabhiman Trust, followers of Swami Ramdev and common people, too, sat on agitation at various places in Haridwar. At Patanjali Yogpeeth, 17 km from Haridwar city, people associated with all the trusts of Swami Ramdev, sat on agitation, demanding bringing back black money stacked in foreign bank accounts.

A large number of visitors coming to Patanjali Yogpeeth also extended their support to the agitation.

At Rishikul ground, in the midst of the city, a massive protest was carried out under the aegis of Bharat Swabhiman Trust. Be it saints, social activists, Ramdev's followers, local residents or outside pilgrims and tourists, everyone thronged the venue to usher in support to the anti-corruption movement spearheaded by the yog guru. Uttarakhand in-charge of Bharat Swabhiman Trust Mohan Yogi said that thousands of crores of rupees were being deposited in Swiss and other foreign banks owing to mass corruption in the country. He demanded bringing back of this money to India. Revered saint Mahamandaleshwar Swami Harichetanand called on for good practises in one's life and doings as corruption was getting deep rooted in society, which was seriously hampering the rich Indian culture of truth, clarity and accountability.

Apart from these programmes, reports also came from different parts of the district, Roorkee, Mangalore, Lakshar, Jwalapur, Bhagwanpur, Khanpur and Bahadrabad, of people supporting Swami Ramdev's anti-black money campaign.