Kolkata: Airport cops have arrested 22 touts in the past three days. TOI had written on July 19 how taxi touts were back at Kolkata airport, cashing in on a spike in domestic passenger footfall owing to a rise in business traffic and because of many students traversing in and out of the city in the admission season. During multiple visits, touts and drivers were found standing outside gates 1A/B, 2A/B and 4A/B, approaching passengers and following them even when many declined their services.
Following the crackdown, TOI found the number of touts diminishing sharply and passengers enjoying a peaceful exit out of the integrated terminal. While some touts were still spotted approaching passengers near the taxi kiosks, most flyers heaved a sigh of relief.
“We have intensified our drive against touts and the arrests will continue on a regular basis till touting is eliminated from the airport premises,” said an officer.
According to sources, cops had arrested nine men on July 19, six on July 20 and seven on July 21.
Along with touts, cops have also started booking app bikers who have been found picking up passengers from outside the airport’s arrival zone. “While app bikes are permitted to drop off passengers at the airport, they are not allowed to enter the facility to pick up riders since there is an absence of a system to collect access fees from the bikers,” the officer said.
Frequent flyers appreciated the cop drive and urged them to continue the same. “An airport is the most prominent and prestigious gateway to the city and the presence of touts approaching passengers the moment they come out of the terminal tarnishes the city’s image. We are accustomed to such scenes at railway stations but such menace at airports should not be tolerated. The cops are taking the right step and should continue with the drive to erase the menace,” said Dwaipayan Roy, a resident of Behala who frequently flies between Kolkata and Delhi.