MARGAO: In response to concerns raised by the South Goa Superintendent of Police (SP) regarding the growing trend of visitors using fake aliases and addresses when seeking accommodations, South Goa Collector Asvin Chandru (IAS) has issued a directive aimed at stricter compliance measures.

The order mandates comprehensive tenant verification procedures and requires landlords and hotel proprietors to input relevant guest details into the police software, PATHIK (Programme for Analysis of Travellers and Hotel Informatics).

Addressing the challenges faced by law enforcement in identifying perpetrators due to misleading information provided by guests, the collector emphasised the necessity for landlords and hoteliers to

strictly check and verify the authenticity of guest information, and

the importance of accurately recording such details in the designated police software.

“Police have reported to us that they find it difficult to identify culprits as the details furnished by them to the landlords and the hotel owners are found to be fictitious and bogus. It was also reported that landlords and hoteliers let out their premises without verifying the antecedents of the person,” said Chandru.

Furthermore, the collector urged landlords and hoteliers across South Goa to facilitate inspections by authorities, including law enforcement, as and when required, in order to ensure compliance with the prescribed verification protocols.

Furthermore, in a bid to enhance security measures, national banks operating within the district were instructed by the Collector to implement continuous security

surveillance at their ATMs such as the deployment of additional security guards and the installation of CCTV cameras.