Birbhum district police has started a helpline number and a dedicated tourist police service at Unesco’s World Cultural Heritage site Santiniketan from Saturday.

These 18 Tourists Police personnel will be deployed in front of Sonajhuri and in front of the post office in Santiniketan. If required, in any case of emergency, these dedicated Tourist Police will reach in motorcycles immediately after being called by the tourists on the helpline numbers.

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Rana Mukherjee, additional superintendent of police (ASP) of Birbhum said that the special dedicated toll free number, 7812001120, will be placed through boards and placards throughout the Bolpur area.

“We request every person visiting Santiniketan to contact the ‘May I Help You’, assistance booth and Tourist Police guard in case of any problem. The specially trained cops will provide all support,” he said.

Inaugurating the Tourist Police guard, consisting 18 specially trained cops, Rana Mukherjee said that this is an effort to bring more confidence to the people, who come from all over the world to visit Santiniketan.

There will be 24×7 police patrolling in Sonajhuri hut, Ashram area, Post Office Mor etc throughout the year.

Riki Agrwal, SDPO of Bolpur said that the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee is keen to develop Santiniketan as a tourist spot further and the district police is taking steps towards that direction.

Every year, several lakh tourists, both domestic and foreign, visit Tagore’s abode of peace, Santiniketan. Lakhs of people visit throughout the country to purchase handicrafts.

The maximum tourist rush occurs during the Basanta Utsav and Poush Mela, the two of the biggest annual cultural festivals of Visva-Bharati University (VBU) and Santiniketan.

These tourist police guards will be divided into two groups and will wear a yellow jacket over the uniform for easy identifications and will travel and blue and white specially-painted two wheelers.

To further develop Santiniketan, after it recently bagged the Unesco World Cultural Heritage Site tag, the state government has come forward to improve the infrastructure and add new attractions.

Among such attractions, one mini zoo is also planned in the nearby area to further attract the tourists.