UP tourists vandalise homestay in Meghalaya, arrested: Police

Three tourists from Uttar Pradesh accused of vandalising a homestay and threatening its staff in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district were arrested in West Bengal's Alipurduar district on July 13, while three minors allegedly involved in the incident were also detained, police said.

The case stems from an alleged incident at Oakwood Homestay in Risa Colony, where the owner filed an FIR on July 11 accusing a group of guests of threatening employees, damaging property and leaving the premises without settling their bill.

East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem said the police registered two cases based on the complaint and launched an investigation with assistance from the police in Kokrajhar district of Assam, Alipurduar district of West Bengal and Sapatgram Police.

"With regard to the incident that took place at Oakwood Homestay in Risa Colony, we received a complaint on July 11 alleging that two persons threatened to damage the guest house and left without paying the bill," Syiem said.

Following coordinated search operations, police located the accused at around 4.45 pm on Monday. The arrested adults were identified as Vikas Singh, Avinash Singh and Akand Pratap Singh. Three 17-year-old boys accompanying them were detained and produced before the Juvenile Justice Board.

The three adult accused were initially detained by West Bengal Police before being taken into custody by a Meghalaya Police team. They were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in Alipurduar.

However, as the offences invoked are punishable with imprisonment of less than seven years, the court granted bail to all three adults, the SP said.

The accused have been booked under Sections 351(3), 324(3) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The investigation into the incident is ongoing.