No Security upgrade, no hotel licence renewal

Cops give hotels, restaurants, multiplexes list of gadgets to be installed, say get NOC from police station

If hotels, restaurants and multiplexes in the city fail to satisfy the police with their security equipment and get a no-objection certificate, their licence will not be renewed this year, the police commissioner's office has warned.

The announcement comes after the importance of security equipment like CCTV cameras was brought home by the February 13 German Bakery blast, in which footage from the camera installed at Hotel O next to the bakery is expected to play a vital role in cracking the terror case.

The security no-objection certificate is to be obtained from the local police station.

"We have asked all hotels, lodges and restaurants in the city to install security gadgets like hand-held metal detectors, doorframe metal detectors, CCTV cameras and baggage screening equipment to ensure that people entering the establishment are thoroughly checked along with everything with them," said Additional Commissioner (Admin) Sanjeevkumar Singhal. "The security-related no-objection certificate will be issued only after hotels, restaurants and lodges fulfil all necessary requirements."

On the basis of the certificate issued by the local police station, licences will be renewed for a period of
three years.

Reacting to the warning, Pune Hotelier Association president C Behl, said, "Considering the recent German Bakery blast, we are with the police and will install the security gadgets. We already have doorframe and hand-held metal detectors, and baggage scanning equipment, while we are in the process of ordering tyre-breakers. But creating trenches and piling sandbags, and ordering bulletproof jackets for the guards is a little unreasonable. They are emphasising on deploying armed guards but only giving them .303 rifle licences."

Darius Buhariwala, manager of the four-star Sagar Plaza hotel, said, "Doing what the commissioner says will be good for hotels, but our only concern is that a baggage scanner is quite expensive. It is in the range of Rs 25 lakh and needs to be imported, and the procedure to import the equipment will cost us more money. We have received NOC from local police station."