Srinagar, Dec 1: Around 500 girls from colleges in Jammu and Kashmir on a tour around the country recently had a miserable experience at a hotel in the city. Not only were the rooms dirty and stinky and the arrangements shoddy, they felt unsafe as reviews mentioned a sex racket and photos of nude women were found on the phone of an employee.
According to a TOI report, the women complained that the hotel reviews mentioned a sex racket and photos of some nude women were found on the phone of an employee.
“A total of 500 students were put up at the Royal Palms Hotel in Goregaon and others were given rooms in a hotel in Saki Naka. However, dinner arrangements were made for all students at Royal Palms,” TOI quoted one of the professors accompanying the students as saying.
The professor said that the students had searched online for reviews about the hotel and panicked after they came across news that a high-profile sex racket was busted at Royal Palms.
He also said that the rooms were unclean, stinky and the bedsheets had stains which made students uncomfortable. They also described their Mumbai hotel experience below part as compared with Delhi and Ahmedabad.
The group also faced space issues as hotel management arranged dinner tables for only 100 people instead of 800.
“Dinner was to be served for 800, but the table arrangement was for only 100, leading to chaos. When dinner was on, the lights went off for 20-25 minutes,” the publication quoted them as saying.
“At first we thought it was a power failure, but then the students noticed that the lights had been switched off to move away a few guests who may have been involved in shady activities,” the professor said.
The report further stated that an argument erupted between the staff and the students and when one of the students snatched the staff member’s phone, they found nude pictures of some women.
The group of 800 girls and teachers were on a country tour arranged by the IRCTC in partnership with the J&K Higher Education Council. The tour is funded by the J&K government.
Meanwhile, IRCTC issued a statement expressing shock over the incident and said that an inquiry would be launched into the matter.
“We have launched an inquiry. Strict action will be taken against not only the contractor but also our employees. This is on the top of our agenda,” the IRCTC chairman told TOI.
The Royal Palms hotel has yet not commented on the incident.
Source: TOI
