SRINAGAR: A 29-year-old Chinese national accused of violating visa rules by travelling to J&K and Ladakh without permission was questioned for a second day on Monday, before being released in the evening. Meanwhile, fresh police searches revealed more foreign nationals staying in Kashmir Valley’s hotels, homestays and houseboats that had failed to report their stay by filing Form-C with the Foreigners Registration Office (FRO).
Filing Form-C is mandatory under Immigration and Foreigners Act, and it is an online process, police said.
Senior cops said routine checks in Srinagar found foreign nationals from Taiwan, Israel, Russia, Romania and Spain staying at various hotels and houseboats that had failed to file Form C with FRO. FIRs were registered against Hotel Blossoms, Hotel Grand MS and Hotel Golden Forest in Srinagar’s Rajbagh area under provisions of Immigration and Foreigners Act. In Srinagar’s Khanyar area, Hotel Khyber in Khayam was booked for similar violations.
A homeowner in Nishat area was also found to have failed to report a foreign tourist. In Lal Bazar, IMY Homestay was accused of concealing the stay of an Israeli national, Starobinsky Lior.
Police said several houseboats in Ram Munshi Bagh area were also found non-compliant. Floating Castle hosted a guest from Taiwan, Best View Houseboat hosted a Russian national, houseboat Crystal Palace hosted a Romanian national and houseboat Lake Palace hosted a Spanish national, all without mandatory reporting, police said.
“Further investigation into the cases is underway to uncover forward and backward linkages,” a cop said.
“All hotels, guest houses, houseboats and homestay operators must strictly comply with Form-C submission norms when accommodating foreign nationals. Non-compliance with the same is a serious offence and will invite strict legal action,” a police spokesperson stated.
Officials said the Chinese national had arrived in New Delhi on Nov 19 on a tourist visa that permitted travel only to select Buddhist religious sites, including Varanasi, Agra, New Delhi, Sarnath and Gaya. He flew to Leh on Nov 20 without registering with the FRO at the airport and later travelled to Zanskar, where he stayed for three days. He reached Kashmir on Dec 1 and stayed at a homestay in Budgam area.
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