Such accommodations are being considered safe havens for flesh trade, drug peddling and smuggling of firearms
Bhubaneswar: Illegal guest houses, lodges and hotels that dotted Chandrasekharpur and Infocity areas of the Capital city have apparently become a source extra money for some officials of the Commissionerate Police.
Anti-social elements, including many criminals from neighbouring states, usually take shelter in these illegal hotels and guest houses, and prepare blueprints for committing crimes like murder and robbery. Moreover, such accommodations are being considered safe havens for flesh trade, drug peddling and smuggling of illegal firearms, sources said.
It has been alleged that officials of Chandrasekharpur and Infocity police stations are quite aware of the illegal guesthouses and the immoral activities happening there. However, they seldom bother to take action due to obvious reasons. A few locals claimed that police officials were getting hafta (weekly and monthly payment) from the owners of illegal accommodations to keep their mouths shut.
Taking advantage of many educational and commercial entities in the two posh localities, many people have set up guesthouses and hotels without procuring valid documents from the Commissionerate Police.
The official website of the Commissionerate Police claims that four hotels and 20 guest houses have been issued licences in Chandrasekharpur area while five such establishments have been given the same in the Infocity area.
“More than a hundred illegal guest houses have come up in the two localities. Some influential people are operating these accommodations by paying big money to the police,” said a local.
According to sources, criminals and call girls usually produce fake identity cards to take shelter in guest houses having no valid papers. These illegal accommodations have no CCTV cameras and security guards. Call girls and customers often claim themselves as couples to avoid any trouble, sources said.
“We inform the police regarding the number of people residing in our guest houses everyday and pay them monthly to run our business,” said an hotelier.
Locals of Maitree Vihar had raised the illegal guest house issue with the Police Commissioner after the cops busted a sex racket in the locality last year. They had also taken out a rally seeking urgent police action.
If sources are to be believed, owners of illegal lodges offer call girls to policemen to ply flesh trade at Maitree Vihar. “Guest house owners usually refer to call girls as cold drinks when they invite police officers over phone,” said a source.
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