Pan:

Three women were booked by the Goa Police on Monday for allegedly offering massage services at Candolim Beach, without obtaining permission from the competent authority, an official said.

Police said that as per the formalities all three accused persons were produced before the Deputy Director of Tourism at Panaji, Goa, along with the report for committing offence under Section 3 of the Goa Tourist Places Protection and Maintenance Act 2001, who failed to pay the penalty of Rs 25,000 (to be paid by each accused persons) and hence the offence was registered against them.

“The order was passed by the Deputy Director of Tourism imposing a penalty of Rs 25,000 to be paid by each accused person, but the same was not paid by them,” police added.

Later, Kuldeep Arolkar, Deputy Director of Tourism, complained about the incident and the action was taken by Calangute police.

“These accused persons were found moving at Candolim Beach and approaching tourists on the beach and offering massage services without any permission from the competent authority, thereby, contravening several sections,” police said.

Sources informed that a video of the massage taking place on the Candolim beach had gone viral, which forced police to take action.

After receiving complaints from locals, the Goa government had earlier warned touts and those involved in illegal massage activities on beaches.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)