Advertisement

Tourists attack crowd with swords in Manali after a traffic congestion: Arrested

With the state governments relaxing the lockdown rules across India, most people are reaching the mountains to take a vacation. This has created a heavy influx of tourists in popular mountain destinations like Manali in Himachal Pradesh, Mussourie in Uttarakhand and so on. Due to the gathering of the tourists, a few fights broke out. In Manali, a video showing tourists attacking the crowd with a sword has become viral. Here is what happened.

The video recorded by a bystander shows four tourists from Punjab brandishing swords and attacking the locals. The incident happened about 100 metres away from the Manali Police station. According to the reports, the tourists were trying to overtake other vehicles on the highway.

The tourists trying to overtake the vehicles caused them to drive dangerously and that’s when the road rage with the locals started. The tourists got off their vehicles and started waving swords at the others. They even attacked locals and allegedly injured a local driver too.

The tourists were not wearing any masks and were continuously attacking others. After they injured a local, the group of tourists left the place of the incident and ran away towards Jispa.

Police chased them

Tourists attack crowd with swords in Manali after a traffic congestion: Arrested

The local police chased the group of tourists and also informed their counterparts on the road. They were finally nabbed from Khoksar village in Lahaul-Spiti. The police have arrested four tourists while one more is still at large and is on the run.

Gurdev Sharma, SP, Kullu Police confirmed the arrest and said that they have arrested four tourists for attacking the public with swords in Manali after they were asked to reverse their car, which was causing a traffic jam. The police have registered a case against four of them under relevant sections of the IPC and Arms Act. Further actions will be taken against the culprits.

IRB Deployed

The Himachal government has decided to deploy Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) at important locations in the state where tourists gather the most. Less than a month ago, four tourists were arrested in Mandi for a similar incident where they attacked the locals with swords and chopped off the finger of a person too.

The Kullu Police has issued more than 300 challans to the tourists for not following the COVID-19 norms and violating the protocols set up by the government to restrict the spread of the virus. Even the Atal Tunnel has received a strong deployment of the lawmakers to ensure that they follow the rules and drive in a proper manner following the speed limits. Initially after the Atal Tunnel was made open for the public, several accidents and high-speed runs were reported, which forced the police to take strict actions.

Shantonil Nag

Shantonil brings a refined blend of expertise and enthusiasm to motoring journalism at Cartoq.com. With a career spanning over 11 years, he anchors Cartoq's insightful car reviews and test drives. His journalistic journey began as a correspondent at Gaadi.com, where he honed his skills in content writing and scripting car reviews. Later, as Senior Editor for Autoportal.com, his expanded role included curating and structuring web content. At Cartoq.com, his expanded role includes assisting the video team to create high-quality car reviews. (Full bio)