Calcutta, Dec. 2: Till the other day, he would walk into Great Eastern Hotel with the man at the entrance making a salute.

Mihir Sengupta, the director of tourism, stepped out of his white ambassador ? fitted with a red beacon, of course ? in front of the hotel this afternoon and strutted across the pavement to the main entrance.

Then, the everyday story reversed altogether ? the VIP was stopped at the gate by security personnel appointed by Lalit Suri, whose Bharat Hotels has taken over the reins of the 165-year-old Great Eastern from Writers’ Buildings.

Sengupta, also the vice- chairman of the Great Eastern Hotel Authority, who visited the hotel regularly of late to expedite the early retirement of its 400-odd employees ? so that a private promoter could take it over ? was rather rudely reminded that it has indeed changed hands.

Hotel member secretary and chief executive officer Jagannath Bag had to step in to save his boss from further embarrassment. He passed on a chit through his peon to the guards, requesting them to let Sengupta in.

“Mihirda (Sengupta) is a bit upset, but nothing doing. We will have to bear with the security personnel appointed by Suri, who has taken over the possession of the hotel,” Bag said, adding: “This is no more a government concern.”

Sengupta denied he was detained at the gate. “But it is true that the entry through the hotel’s main gate after 2 pm was restricted,” he admitted.

Not only Sengupta, several hotel staff members, who are yet to get all their dues from the government, faced the same ordeal.

They had to enter through the back door on British India Street, instead of the main gate on Old Court House Street.

“Some senior executives, who came to enquire about their early retirement scheme payment, were also stopped at the entrance. Such treatment is unexpected in an institution with which I have been associated since 1967,” said Mohammed Reyaz Ansari, who was in charge of stores.

The government today decided to clear the dues of all 417 employees, including the 44 on contract, by tomorrow. “We shall hand over the cheques tomorrow. The expenditure will amount to Rs 14.4 crore,” Bag said.

A team led by A.K. Verma, the corporate vice-president of Bharat Hotels, is now working to clean up junk from Great Eastern.