Lapkas rule the roost in Taj city
It originated from the act of catching a tourist once he or she landed in the city of the Taj. Well educated, these touts mastered the art of interacting with the tourists and also conning them
AGRA: The city of the Taj Mahal has a blemish on its crown. Just as the fame of the monument of love travels far and wide, the notoriety of lapkas or touts fleecing tourists is hard to miss.
Such is their notoriety that chief minister Yogi Adityanath had ordered a campaign to weed out the menace last year. But the Sunday’s incident in which lapkas ran amok at Fatehpur Sikri shows they have not been reined in.
The ill-famed lapkas (touts) resorted to firing and stone pelting on policemen in plain clothes engaged in a campaign against them on Sunday. Three cops were injured when the ‘lapka’ being chased by police pelted them with stones. Seven lapkas were arrested and a case was registered against them at Fatehpur Sikri police station.
Although lapka literally means catcher (of tourists), some tourism trade pundits feel the term is ambiguous.
THE DABBA TRADE
The term was first used in the early 1990s. It originated from the act of catching a tourist once he or she landed in the city of the Taj. Well educated, these touts mastered the art of interacting with the tourists and winning their confidence.
They focused on foreign tourists coming alone from abroad and sold goods to them, promising big cuts, a practice termed in local parlance as ‘dabba’ trade, said Sandeep Arora, president of the Agra Tourism Development Federation.
Initially, there were only a hundred of them, found mainly near the railway station, Agra Fort and Taj Mahal. They allegedly had links with local shopkeepers.
“First, they befriended the visitor.
The target was then taken to a pre-decided shop, where a packed item was given to him or her for handing over to a fictitious person residing in the tourist’s country. The visitor was given a lucrative offer of paying less for the product. In turn, the tourist was told to charge extra while handing it over to the prospective client abroad. The target usually fell for the bait of easy money and took the item. But when the tourist reached his destination and couldn’t find the receiver, he was left with no option but to use the product, which was mostly of an inferior quality.
INSURANCE RACKET
Soon, a large number of complaints poured in from different embassies, giving the tourism industry in Agra and its adjoining areas a bad name. What followed was action bringing an end to the illegal practice. But the lapkas didn’t stop here. They changed with time and moved over to a new system dubbed ‘Danda Bindi’ once the credit cards came into use, said Arora.
Under the Danda Bindi system, the lapkas got involved in cloning credit cards and withdrawing cash. Besides, they ran an ‘insurance racket’ in connivance with hospitals near the Taj.
Tourists falling sick were taken to pre-decided hospitals by the lapkas. In turn, they got cuts from the insurance money.
CHANGING TIMES
The menace gradually spread to nearby tourist spots like Fatehpur Sikri, about 40 km from Agra, said Arora. Now, even roadside hawkers and the canvassers for hotels and restaurants were viewed as lapkas.
“The lapkas were those laying a trap for tourists and involved in ‘dabba’, ‘danda bindi’, credit card cloning or insurance racket. But with these networks being exposed, these malpractices turned redundant. Now, even the hawkers or canvassers for hotels and restaurants are termed as lapka,” said Rajiv Tiwari, chairman of the Federation of Travel Association (FTA).
› We have identified them (lapkas) and now cops in plain clothes are being deployed near monuments to nab them KUNWAR A. SINGH, SP city (Agra)
› We will cooperate with the police because lapkas do affect tourists who complain about their behaviour BHUVAN VIKRAM SINGH, ASI
› Police functioning should be monitored regularly as many cops are found to be hand in glove with the lapkas
RAJIV TIWARI, chairman FTA
A MISNOMER
“How can a hawker or a man standing in front of his shop, hotel or restaurant asking tourists to visit his place be termed lapka?” asked Munawwar Ali, convenor of the Uttar Pradesh Aman Committee. He has a shop and a hotel adjoining the western gate of the Taj Mahal.
“The issue in Fatehpur Sikri is of law and order where shops crop up within the premises of Dargah Sheikh Salim Chisti despite a ban imposed by Supreme Court on commercial activity within the monument. Notorious elements get involved in practices targeting tourists at Fatehpur Sikri and even get physical when checked. There are complaints of harassment of tourists from Fatehpur Sikri but a question remains as to why these elements termed lapka re-emerge after being hauled up every time,” he said.
“Many a time those who raise the issue are the same people who station their men at the Taj Mahal parking lot, canvassing for their hotels, emporiums and other establishments,” complained Ali.
“Much of the tourism trade in Agra is surviving through these elements, now termed as lapka, as government agencies have failed to provide authentic alternatives to the tourists,” he added.
LAPKA TO APKA
The concern about the lapkas has led to launch of various initiatives from time to time.
Director of Hindustan Institute of Management and Computer Studies, Naveen Gupta initiated the campaign ‘Lapka to Apka’ (LTA) to make these touts ‘friends of tourists’. The campaign began by honouring an auto rickshaw driver Nazeer for returning ₹1.5 lakh to a tourist who forgot his bag in his threewheeler.
“We began by training 150 auto rickshaw drivers at the Agra Cantt station. We held a ession from 4pm to 5 pm every Friday and initially gave them dresses too. The response was good. We had to change the name of the campaign as auto drivers objected to being called lapkas. Now, we use the name SOS (Soldiers of Society),” said Gupta.
POLICE CAMPAIGN
In line with the chief minister’s instructions, the Agra police launched a month-long campaign in November last year and nabbed 153 lapkas, mainly near Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri.
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
“Responding to a representation, union culture minister Mahesh Sharma had promised to bring a law to make the lapkas’ acts a non-bailable offence. The same is being awaited,” said Rajiv Tiwari, chairman of FTA.
He added the police booked these lapkas under Section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code, giving them an early exit.