Srinagar: After Jammu and Kashmir Police, the officials of the tourism department have also refuted the report, published in the Times of India by Journalist Saleem Pandith, that stones were pelted on tourists in Srinagar.
An official of the JK Tourism’s Helpline said that she has been serving the department from past 20 years and Dalgate is the safest area for tourists and nothing of the kind has even happened there.
ALSO READ: Fake News: Police rubbishes Times of India report that stones were pelted on tourists in JK
“Yesterday there was only one issue. There was no transport. Just the private vehicles could be seen. But there was no incident of stone pelting here. I will speak to the TOI reporter and verify it all,” she said.
Personal Assistant to the Deputy Director, Tourism informed that they checked their records and called all the main service providers about the Indonesian groups and they said all of them are safe.
The TOI report had claimed that a bus carrying Indonesian tourists was ‘attacked’ near the Dal Lake.
ALSO READ: No incident as reported by Times of India’s Saleem Pandit took place, says Police
He also pointed out that due to the volatile situation which arose after the killings in Shopian, service providers in Pulwama had cancelled the plans for the day.
“We spoke to the service providers there as well. They said that they knew the situation wasn’t safe for anybody so they had cancelled all the plans for that day. The tourists were not out as per them.”
The TOI report had claimed that a ‘mob attacked a tourist bus at Awantipora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district and threw stones at it, injuring two women from UP.’
The report also claimed due to the ‘prompt action by houseboat owners the tourists were saved. However, officials of the tourism department said that the houseboat owners denied the allegation.
“The officials also verified the incident locally. The house boat owners and hoteliers completely denied the allegations,” the official said.
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