Police say they were looking into it and penal action would be taken against the guilty persons.
New Delhi: A few hours after the alleged controversy erupted on social media that a man was denied a hotel room because he was a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi Police have clarified that there were no directions from their side, and they were mulling penal action against those spreading the fake news.
Delhi Police on Thursday clarified that they had not given any directions to any hotel regarding who could stay or who could not.
“A purported video is viral on social media wherein a person is being denied hotel reservation due to his J&K ID. The reason for cancellation is being given as direction from the police. It is clarified that no such direction has been given by Delhi Police,” said a senior police official.
The official said it had come to their notice that the aggrieved person in the video while posting the same on YouTube had said that he stayed in the same area in another hotel and it was a lame excuse given by the hotel.
“Some netizens are trying to discredit the image of Delhi Police through wilful misrepresentation of the video in circulation which can attract penal action,” the police said.
The matter was posted by Nasir Khuehami, a verified handle on Twitter, which claimed that due to the impact of ‘The Kashmir Files’, the man was denied entry to the hotel. He also posted a video in this respect.
Police said they were also checking the authenticity of the video as it was said that it could be an old video.
Meanwhile, OyoRoom replied on Twitter that their hearts and rooms were open for all.
The matter took a political turn on Thursday after senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh took to Twitter to criticise the Centre.
“Utterly shameful. By such an attitude Amit Shah ji are you not driving Kashmiris more against us itself? What is this?
“Please ask Delhi Commissioner Police to enquire into it and punish who ever has given such an order,” Singh tweeted.
Meanwhile, Rakesh Kumar, the hotel owner, said all the rooms were full and hence they didn’t accept booking. He said it was the guest who was using filthy language.
“Facts have been twisted, things are being highlighted in a different manner. The guests had a booking through OYO; all rooms were occupied except one whose AC wasn’t working,” Kumar said.
Police said they were looking into it and penal action would be taken against the guilty.
IANS