Berlin native Holger Erik Misch said he was assaulted after he got down from a train at Robertsganj station
A German national was thrashed by a Railway contractor at a station in Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra district on Saturday, the third crime committed against foreign tourists — including a Swiss couple and a Russian woman — in the state in the last two weeks.
Berlin native Holger Erik Misch said he was assaulted after he got down from a train at Robertsganj station. The accused, Aman Yadav, however, said, "I greeted him and asked him where he wanted to go. Instead of giving me a reply, he punched me in the face and spit on me."
Yadav was arrested by the police for attacking a foreign tourist. Both Yadav and Eric exchanged a few punches before the police intervened.
Eric said that he did not reply to the accused as he found him drunk and was making fun of him.
"He attacked me when I didn't reply, forcing me to punch him in self-defence," he said. The tourist was immediately rushed to hospital.
Senior police officer Anand Kumar said in Lucknow that initial investigations suggested that the German national attacked the engineer first. "Both have been medically examined. The police have also taken eyewitness accounts to verify the statements," said Kumar.
A case was registered against Eric as well. Police officials said an FIR was lodged against the German national on July 5 in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu for attacking a person with a sharp weapon. His passport and visa are deposited in the chief judicial magistrate court, they said.
On Friday, the branch manager of a nationalised bank in UP's Vrindavan was arrested for allegedly raping a 20-year-old Russian woman repeatedly since she came to India in September after they forged a friendship on Facebook.
On October 22, a Swiss couple was brutally thrashed by a group of people at Fatehpur Sikri near Agra. Quentin Jeremy Clerc had a fractured skull, while his female friend Marie Droz's arm was broken in the attack.
These cases have come despite directives from UP Chef Minister Yogi Adityanath to ensure safety and security of foreign tourists at any cost. After the attack on the Swiss couple, UP police chief Sulkhan Singh had issued special guidelines to district police chiefs for deployment of plain-clothed police in and around railways stations and tourists spots. He had directed increased patrolling and installation of CCTV cameras to check such incidents.
The opposition Samajwadi Party attacked the BJP government over what it called "growing attacks" on foreign tourists in the state. "Earlier in Agra, and now in Sonbhadra. The situation is the same everywhere," party spokesman Sunil Singh Sajan said.
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