About 200 km away from the bustling city of Hyderabad, nestled amid the forests of Eegalapenta is Hilltop Mrugavani Resort. On June 22, four friends, three techies from Hyderabad and a cinematographer from Mumbai, who stayed there were allegedly harassed by the police at 1.30 a.m. on June 22 for “not following the Indian culture”.
“Four men and women staying in a room together is against the Indian culture,” Eegalapenta Sub Inspector Veeramallu told the group in a video recorded by the guests.
The ‘surprise check’ conducted on the premises last Saturday involved knocking on the doors of 20 rooms with 58 guests, including an NRI family with a baby. Interestingly, there was no female police official present during these checks.
The videos of the incident making rounds on social media platforms have sparked a debate among netizens.
Speaking to The Hindu, one of the managers, who did not wish to be named, said, “We have been running the resort for the last two years and no such check was conducted before. That night, three officials came up and asked for the list of all the guests staying in the hotel. The staff requested them to check the Aadhaar cards and other details in the register, however the officials insisted on checking the rooms personally and started knocking on the doors.”
Guests who paid anywhere between ₹8,000-₹10,000 per night at the resort stormed out the next morning upset by the experience while others questioned the hospitality of the resort, located only 20 minutes away from the popular Octopus viewpoint and about 20 km from the Srisailam Temple.
According to the management, the local police officials on June 7 requested the resort to accommodate their ‘guests’. However, the resort was fully booked for the weekend. “This is a move out of grudge. Only after that incident this ‘routine checking’ has happened,” the manager said.
The manager informed that Arani Majumdar, who booked accommodation in the resort for a friend and himself, later called seeking an additional room when two more friends showed up for the weekend trip. “Our bookings were full so we offered additional mattresses in their room for which they would be charged extra, and they agreed,” he said.
“The resort mostly hosts families and as a general practice, we collect ID of one person for each room. While the police did not question this in the case of other rooms, they created a ruckus about this room where the four guests were staying citing they were unmarried,” the manager further added.
According to the Nagarkurnool Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Gaikwad, this was only a part of routine checks conducted in lodges and hotels and was done with no intention to harass any guests. “Hotels and resorts have to collect IDs of all the guests staying and not just one. The resort is located in the forest area, far away from the city and so regular checking becomes important to ensure the safety of the guests,“ the official said.
“We are evaluating the case closely and prompt action will be taken if any issues from the side of the police department are observed,” the official added.
Published - June 27, 2024 07:01 pm IST
