Delhi Police officials are visiting hotels, guest houses and other stay facilities across the Capital. They are questioning guests they consider “suspicious” about why they are in Delhi. This is ahead of Saturday’s protest call by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). At least four officials confirmed this on Thursday. One guest and two hotel staff also told HT that police had questioned them about the nature and length of their stay.
Officers check the occupant registers kept by hotel owners and managers. They check them against a list of factors. Stays between October 8 and 11 are one factor. Large groups, especially people in their 20s and early 30s, are another. So is the stated purpose of the visit. Officers have also been told to watch for rooms booked by someone other than the guest. They are matching IDs with the registers. They also have a list of four- and five-star hotels, keeping in mind the “social profile” of some protest leaders.
The Special Cell and Crime Branch have been told to track key members of the CJP, left-wing groups and civil society groups. Locating Dhruv Rathee and CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke is their “prime responsibility”, an officer said. Police are also monitoring bus bookings. They are checking railway stations and the airport for “large groups”. One officer said police are “not stopping or detaining anyone” and are only making inquiries.
Reports have come from other places too. An All India Youth Federation member from Mumbai said an officer called him a terrorist. He got off at Faridabad and went home. In Bhopal, railway police detained 21 people on the Goa Express. They were travelling from Pune to Delhi. They were taken to a hotel in Itarsi and asked to return to Pune.
Source: Deccan Herald
