Room denied to Kashmiri, Delhi Police says no such directions

New Delhi: A few hours after the alleged controversy erupted on social media that a man was denied hotel room because he was a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, the Delhi Police have clarified that there were no directions from their side, and they were mulling penal action against those who were spreading fake news.
The Delhi Police on Thursday clarified that they had not given any direction to any hotel regarding who will stay or who cannot.
“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 the Delhi Police,” said a senior police official.
The official said that it has come to their notice that the aggrieved person in the video while posting the same on YouTube has stated 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 willful 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 on the matter.
“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 that 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 room whose AC wasn’t functioning properly,” Kumar said.
Police said they were looking into the action and penal action would be taken against the guilty persons.
(IANS)