The Telegraph visited Hotel Harshabardhan on Tuesday and found the bags of guests being checked. Nobody had asked why photographs were being taken. Picture by Nantu Dey

Raiganj, Dec. 9: The terror attacks in Mumbai have cast little shadow on the hotels in town, although police had announced a host of security measures for the district flanked by Bihar and Bangladesh.

Contrary to North Dinajpur police chief Sankar Singha’s claims that registers will be checked regularly, the law enforcers have not visited the hotels — not even once — to see if instructions were being followed.

The Telegraph visited Hotel Harshabardhan at Mohanboti this morning. When the correspondent said he would like to stay in the hotel for four days, the receptionist asked him where he came from and handed him the check-in register. A room was shown to him and he came out complaining that it was shabby and not up to his choice, quickly heading for another hotel.

Later, when The Telegraph disclosed its visit, manager Biplab Kundu admitted that a stranger’s identity should have been checked.

“The police did tell us about checking our guests’ credentials. But it is difficult to follow the instructions in toto as it often brings angry response from customers,” Kundu said.

The manager also said there had been no surprise checks by the police. “It has become the responsibility of the hotel authorities to send the registers to the local police stations and get them signed by the duty officers,” he added.

At Hotel Liberty near the municipality bus stand, the correspondent told the receptionist that he was from Chopra and on his way to Calcutta on “personal” work and wanted to stay for the night. One can go to Calcutta directly from Chopra and it did not occur to the receptionist why someone would travel 120km to Raiganj and stay there before heading to the state capital. Usually people from Chopra come to Raiganj on errand and return the same day.

The receptionist, however, tried his best to convince the correspondent about the comforts available in the hotel, but did not ask for any proof of identity. Nor did he ask the correspondent to show his bus or train tickets. Manager Ganesh Shah later denied that there had been lapses on the part of the hotel. “We depend on gut feeling. We felt that you were not the sort who should be checked. Besides, you had not taken the room. We would have run a check, if The Telegraph had booked the room,” Shah said.

On December 4, the police chief had said: “From now on, the guests will have to produce some identification proofs or even bus or railway tickets.” He had also said the registers of the hotels would have to be brought to the police station everyday and countersigned by the officials.

The inspector-in-charge of the Raiganj police station, Pradip Chakraborty, today said it was difficult to visit hotels everyday and verify the credentials of the guests. “There are more than 20 hotels in town and we have a staff shortage. We have to depend on what the hotel management says,” he said.

Singha said he would inquire into the lapses. “Whoever is responsible will have to answer for it,” he added.

About 10 days ago, four confidence tricksters from south Bengal had checked into a hotel close to the Mohanbati bus stop. The police had then said the four had come to commit a big crime. On the fifth day, they had robbed a businessman. While the local people caught two of them, the others had managed to flee.