PUDUCHERRY: Hotels in the Union Territory have become a breeding ground for crime, said V J Chandran, senior superintendent of police (law and order), at a recent interactive meeting between the police and the hoteliers. From cheating to murder, he laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of the many hotels in the UT. While giving examples to back up his statements, he also advised as to how the hoteliers could handle the situation with help from the police.In the recent past, two murders as well as an attempt to murder had taken place in a hotel. Many a time, murders resulted from intoxicated customers getting into a brawl. Quick intimation by the hotel staff to the police could spur the latter into action, he said. Arriving on the scene quickly, the police would take appropriate action in preventing crime. When hoteliers expressed the fear regarding an unscrupulous cop informing the criminal and putting them at risk, the SSP assured that the informer’s identity would be kept confidential.More often than not, planning to commit a crime has been done in hotels. Hence, the SSP requested the hotel staff to be alert to such possibilities and report.Sometimes, people from outside took refuge in hotels to pull off a killing. In two different incidents, a man and a woman had checked into a hotel and the man had left after murdering the woman.Not only killings, hotels also attract those whose business is to cheat. Fake financial companies after promising loans to the tune of a few crores disappear after collecting a service charge. Even fake employment is offered in hotels for a fee. Then there are the fake healers who on the pretext of offering spectacular cure for diseases like cancer, HIV and infertility, dupe people through temporary clinics conducted in hotels.The hotels have been directed to enhance surveillance by erecting CCTV cameras and asking for a photo identy at the time of booking. It would be in their best interest to alert the police for any kind of suspicious movement, said the SSP.
Comments
0 comment