Amid growing controversy over a video purportedly shot at a Delhi hotel, the owner of the property defended his staff.
In the video, the staff is seen apparently refusing to allot a room to a person from Jammu and Kashmir, despite a booking through OYO, which is a hotel aggregator. The hotel staff appears to cite Delhi police instructions to deny the person a room.
The video was posted on Twitter by a spokesperson of the J&K Students Association.
In the video, when the customer asks why he is being denied a room over a J&K ID, the staff apparently answers, "Special Cell and Delhi Police have said that we can't give rooms on J&K IDs."
After the video went viral and a controversy erupted, Delhi Police clarified that the force had issued no such instructions. They claimed that the person later stayed at a hotel in the same area, and attempts to discredit Delhi Police's image will invite action.
Even OYO took action and claimed to have removed the hotel from its platform.
However, the owner of the hotel said that the incident was being misrepresented, and his staff was not in the wrong. Rakesh Kumar said, "This is being shown in a different light. A guest had come after booking through OYO. We had a room available but the AC was not working. Our property manager - the woman seen in the video - showed the guest the room. Things like AC can stop working at any time. All our other rooms were occupied. The guest insisted on getting a room. He used abusive language, and shouted at the property manager. She got irritated. In the video, you must have seen that the guest's ID was copied. It's untrue that we don't give rooms if guest's ID belongs to Jammu and Kashmir."