German tourist accuses Rly employee of attacking him
VARANASI: Close on the heels of an attack on a Swiss couple at Fatehpur Sikri, a German tourist was allegedly beaten up by a railway employee after a brief altercation at Robertsganj railway station in Sonbhadra district on Saturday, police said.
While the tourist, Hollinger Erich, alleged the employee attacked him after he refused to talk to him, employee Aman Kumar rubbished the allegation, saying he acted in self defence as Erich slapped him.
Government Railway Police (GRP) officials said Erich, a resident of Berlin, told them that he reached Robertsganj on Friday and after checking into a hotel, went to the Agori fort for research work. On his return, he reached Robertsganj railway station on Saturday afternoon.
According to the police, Erich said: “I was waiting for a train to Varanasi when a person, who was later identified as railway section engineer Aman Kumar, came to me and asked where I was heading to, whether I needed any support and how I was. When I didn’t respond, he manhandled me and repeatedly slapped me.”
Police said Erich claimed he fell on the ground and suffered scratches on his hand. GRP subinspector Harikesh Ram Azad rushed the man to a hospital for treatment and medical examination, after which he was taken to the GRP station at Mirzapur.
Samar Bahadur Singh, GRP inspector, Mirzapur, said: “The German tourist has filed a complaint against railway employee Aman Kumar, alleging that he manhandled him when he was sitting at Robertsganj railway station. We will register a case. Before that, we will seek some details about Erich against whom a case was registered by Kullu police recently.”
Singh said, “I came to know about the case against Erich when I asked him about his passport and visa. Instead, he produced a document given to him by Kullu police which revealed that his passport and visa were deposited with them. We are trying to gather details.”
For his part, railway employee Kumar told the police, “The German tourist was sitting alone at the station. So I went to him and said, ‘Welcome to India’. I asked him if he needed any support. Instead of taking my gesture positively, he started abusing and slapping me. I just defended myself. His allegations that I attacked him first are baseless.”
Singh said both Erich and Kumar were present at the GRP station in Mirzapur.
On October 26, a Swiss couple — Quentin Jeremy Clerc and his girlfriend Marie Droz — was chased by a group of four local boys and hit with sticks and stones in Fatehpur Sikri. While Clerc suffered skull fracture and nerve damage, Droz was left nursing broken bones.
The incident prompted the ministry of external affairs to seek a report from the Uttar Prdaesh government.
Later, UP DGP Sulkhan Singh issued a list of guidelines, including deployment of policemen in plain clothes, more patrolling and installation of CCTV cameras, to prevent such incidents at tourist spots.