Rs 1,000 to skip Taj Mahal queue: Irish couple allege scam, guide arrested

An Irish couple's account of their visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra has gone viral on social media after they alleged that guides tried to charge them extra money by claiming they could help them skip the long queue to enter the monument. While praising the Taj Mahal as "absolutely stunning", the couple described the experience as stressful due to the "scam" that happened during their visit.

Taking note of the viral video, Agra police said they found that two guides were allegedly misleading foreign tourists near the western gate of the Taj Mahal and demanding money in the name of providing queue-free entry, while the queue for foreigners is, in fact, shorter. One of the guides, identified as Mohammed Shadab, has been arrested, while police are searching for the second guide, Dinesh.

In a video recorded outside the Taj Mahal after their visit, the couple said their experience surrounding entry into the monument was stressful. They said they encountered people near the Taj Mahal who claimed to work for the government and offered to help them avoid the long queues for an additional payment.

According to the couple, they were told that they could pay around Rs 1,000 to avoid the queue.

"A lot of people come up saying they work for the government and they're trying to scam you into a skip-the-line ticket. So basically, there is no skip-the-line ticket. There's a line for foreigners, which is very, very small," the Irish man can be heard saying in the video.

He said they were initially confused by the ticketing and entry arrangements and found it difficult to understand whether the offer being made to them was an official service.

According to the couple, those approaching tourists allegedly presented this arrangement as a special service and sought an additional payment to take them through the shorter queue.

"So what they do is they come up, they tell you they work for the government and, for an extra Rs 1,000, they can bring you through to skip the line, which is really just the line for the foreigners," he added.

In one interaction captured in the video, a person is heard telling the couple that they could get into the Taj Mahal "fast" without waiting. When asked about the cost, the amount quoted was Rs 975.

The couple questioned why they should pay the additional amount after already spending money on their tickets.

"We have already spent USD 2,600 on tickets. This is actually a scam," one of them said.

The couple said the long queue for Indians added to their confusion, as the foreign visitors were unfamiliar with the ticketing and entry system. However, the couple did not clearly mention in the video whether they paid the additional amount.

Following the video and social media posts, Agra police said they immediately took cognisance of the matter and began an investigation.

According to the police, the investigation identified two guides who were misleading foreign tourists at the western gate of the Taj Mahal and demanding money from them in the name of queue-free entry.

The two guides were identified as Mohammed Shadab and Dinesh. Police arrested Mohammed Shadab following the investigation.

"Agra Police took immediate action and arrested Mohd Shadab and initiated the necessary legal proceedings; efforts to arrest Dinesh are currently underway. A report is being submitted to the Tourism Department regarding this matter, recommending appropriate action against both guides and the cancellation of their licences," police said, replying to the viral video on X.

The episode has brought renewed attention to the experience of foreign tourists visiting the Taj Mahal, particularly issues surrounding ticketing, queues and the conduct of guides operating around the monument.