Cops blame hotel for delay in filing FIR, issue notice

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to Hyatt Regency Hotel for not informing them about Ashish Pandey allegedly waving a pistol and threatening a couple at their hotel on Sunday.

In the notice, police accused the hotel management of ‘withholding information’ and ‘assisting the escape of the accused person.’ Police have asked the hotel authorities to reply within 15 days as to why their lodging licence should not be cancelled.

Ajay Chaudhary, joint commissioner of police (New Delhi Range), said neither the hotel authorities nor the victims called the police control room or alerted the local police. “There was negligence by the hotel staff in not alerting us,” Chaudhary said.

Police registered the FIR on Tuesday morning, more than 48 hours after the incident.

In his statement to the police, the hotel’s assistant security manager has said he had informed the chief security officer but neither of them reported the matter.police said they took suo motu cognizance and registered an FIR based on the video.

The hotel had earlier in the day issued a statement saying they are fully cooperating with the police. “...the safety and concerns of our guests are our primary concern. To that end, we employ a wide range of physical security measures and security protocols...we take the incident at Hyatt Regency Delhi seriously and have been working with the local police,” the statement read.

The hotel management did not respond to HT’S queries regarding the police allegations.

Investigating officers have sought details of Ashish’s arms licence and are working to get it cancelled. They have seized the hotel’s CCTV footage. Police have identified and contacted victims for their statement.

The Delhi Police issued a lookout circular ( LOC) against Ashish to stop him from leaving the country. “The three teams have gone to Lucknow. We are trying to track Ashish through technical surveillance,” RP Upadhyay, special commissioner of police (law and order), said.

Police said Ashish is on the run along with his wife and children. “He fled his home by 9.30am and has switched off his mobile phone,” Devender Arya, deputy commissioner of police (southwest), said. Initially, the police booked him under the Arms Act, later, they booked him for four more offences under the IPC.