Shimla hotels reject 'spy camera' plan

By Baldev S. Chauhan, Indo-Asian News Service

Shimla, April 23 (IANS) Hoteliers here have turned down on grounds of privacy a proposal by the police to install closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) in hotel rooms to check growing incidents of crime.

There have been at least three murders in Shimla hotel rooms in recent years besides scores of other crimes.

The police had suggested to hoteliers in Shimla and some other tourist spots in Himachal Pradesh to put up CCTV cameras from this summer, a season when large numbers of domestic and foreign visitors throng the hill state.

'Some hotel and restaurant owners have installed CCTVs at certain places to monitor their staff. But the suggestion to have the cameras in rooms is out of question,' said Rajiv Madan, general secretary of the Shimla Hotels and Restaurants Association.

'CCTVs in bedrooms is a gross violation of the privacy of our guests and will certainly put them off and affect our business,' Madan said.

'Not a single person would like to sleep in a room which is being watched. Besides we have lots of couples including honeymooners visiting Shimla round the year,' he said.

Police said hotel employees came to know of murders several hours late - by when the killer would have fled the city. As a result, the police are left with little evidence to get leads in the criminals, who invariably fill in fictitious addresses.

Madan said the guests were required to enter their identity and contact details at the reception register.

The idea of installing CCTVs has also been opposed by hoteliers in other resort towns in Himachal.

'Nobody has the right to invade the privacy of anybody's bedroom,' said Umesh Akre, president of Himachal Pradesh Hotel Association.

Himachal Pradesh has some 2,000 hotels and guest houses. Shimla has about 500 hotels and Manali over 600.

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