A man from Kolkata, along with his 14-year-old son, was allegedly denied accommodation at a hotel in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, purportedly for being Bengali, after a hotel receptionist equated their identity to being Bangladeshi.
The man is a techie from New Town, Kolkata. He was accompanying his teenage boy, a national-level skater, attending a championship in Noida, reports Times of India on Wednesday.
The father claimed that the hotel receptionist cancelled his two-night booking, made through OYO, alleging that the local police had directed them not to allow guests from Bangladesh, Punjab, or Jammu and Kashmir to stay at hotels until 15 August due to security reasons.
"I was surprised. I said we were not Bangladeshis but from West Bengal. But the receptionist said it was the same thing and that he wouldn't let us in," the man said.
The father said he made multiple calls to OYO.
"The customer care executive finally took the call and said they would refund my amount in 7-10 days. I had no other option but to check into another hotel in Sector 49, far from the arena," he said, adding he had booked the earlier hotel in Sector 44 as it was near the skating rink, where registrations would begin early Wednesday.
An OYO official issued an apology and stated the hotel —Meera Eternity—was removed from the booking platform on Tuesday itself and that an inquiry was initiated.
Noida DCP Yamuna Prasad told Times of India there had been no official instruction from the Noida Police to hotels to deny entry to people from Bengal or any other state.
"Hotels are told to check ID and visa documents of people from Bangladesh but there is no directive to disallow stay to even Bangladeshi residents if they have proper papers," said Prasad.
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