Agra: Following uproar over an unlicensed guide escorting Vietnamese Defence Minister General Phan Van Giang around the Taj Mahal Sunday, the local tourism police have arrested him.
The Vietnamese Defence Minister arrived in Agra on Sunday to visit the Taj Mahal and was escorted by “guide” Shakir Qureshi. The minister was also given used shoe covers and had to wait for a considerable amount of time outside the monument over security concerns.
The news of the incident was published by ThePrint on Monday, following which the Agra tourism police arrested Qureshi Tuesday.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Taj Security) Arib Ahmed told ThePrint that upon preliminary inquiry into the guide’s credentials, it had been established that Qureshi did not have a valid license to show around tourists, let alone dignitaries.
His “stay guide” license had expired on 15 June and even if it had not, Qureshi was not authorised to escort foreign tourists with that permit.
The officer said the guide lived in the Purani Mandi locality of Taj Ganj and had apparently lied about his credentials to get accredited with the Defence Ministry.
The presence of an unlicensed guide with a VIP guest was not only a protocol lapse, but also a security hazard to the guest, the cop said.
Ahmed added the guide could not have pulled off such a fraudulent act alone and the involvement of others, including the agency that recommended his name to the Ministry of Defence, was being investigated.
This is not the first incident where a VIP guest was escorted by an unlicensed guide in the Taj Mahal. On 19 November last year, US Naval Secretary Carlos Del Tora was shown around by Arshad, a hawker posing as a guide and who also carried forged credentials. He was later apprehended and freed with a warning.
Who are ‘stay guides’
Uttar Pradesh Tourism guide Faisal Ahmed said these were individuals who had obtained a stay from the high court in 2010 on the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) decision to allow guides who passed the basic educational and professional criteria detailed by the ASI for these men.
Since most of these “stay guides” were not professionally qualified, they approached the Allahabad High Court, seeking reprieve and demanding that their right to earn a livelihood be preserved.
The High Court allowed their petition and placed a stay on the ASI order till the time the ASI did not conduct a refresher course and qualification examination for these guides.
In the meanwhile, the guides were allowed to work at the monuments with some restrictions, which included a restriction on escorting foreign tourists and VIPs.
Since the ASI has already held the examinations and a number of these “stay guides” have been given licenses by the ASI after passing the exam, the stay order stood vacated with effect from 15 June. Those still operating as “stay guides”, were now effectively unlicensed, as was the case for Shakir Qureshi.
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