TEAM HERALD
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PANJIM: The North Goa Collector has prohibited all hotels from admitting guests unless they produce government-issued identity cards, citing police reports that criminals were booking into hotels using fictitious names and giving bogus residential or official addresses and telephone numbers.
Police say this made it difficult for them to arrest criminals after the crime was committed as the wrong addresses and telephone numbers left them clueless.
Goa has been plagued with many crimes committed by elements from outside the State, who then disappear, the latest being the incident at Morjim.
Local tourists are involved in real estate deals, illicit money transactions and a thriving drug business in which even outside policemen are involved.
“… it is necessary that some checks should be put on owners of the hotels, restaurants so that terrorists/anti-social elements in the guise of guests/visitors may not cause terrorism/anti-social activities and that immediate action is necessary for the prevention of the same,” Collector Mihir Vardhan said using his extraordinary powers under Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to “ …order that owners/management of all hotels, lodges and boarding, private guest houses, paying guest accommodation of all religious bodies, shall not allow any visitor/guest to check in without providing any government identity proof such as a smart card, election card, driving license, employment card, ATM card or any other photo identity card issued by the recognized authority and the in-charge of such accommodation shall provide all such information for inspection to the police authority.”
Warning that any person violating this order would be punished under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, the collector said that the order would be in force for 60 days and enforced from January 3 onwards.
