Hotel guard ‘misbehaves’ with US women

Chandigarh, January 20
In a huge embarrassment for the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation Limited (CITCO), a security guard of Hotel Mountview, reportedly, misbehaved with two women from the US who were staying there. Scared after the incident, the women called up their friends and left the hotel. The hotel has dismissed the guard from the service and has even stopped his salary. The guard was on a contractual basis and was working with the hotel for past two years.

The incident occurred during the intervening night of January 12 and 13. The guard while helping the women open their rooms, allegedly, touched them in an indecent way. The entire episode is reported to have happened within a minute. The women reached the corridor at 3.09 am and left the floor a minute later. However, there was nothing against the guard in the CCTV camera of the corridor. At 3:54 am their friends reached the hotel and the women left with them.

According to information received, the two women were staying in rooms 247 and 249. They had booked their stay from January 8-18, but due to the incident, they left the hotel on January 13.

Before leaving the hotel, though the women did not submit any written complaint against the security guard, they informed the night staff about the incident, and one of the employees entered everything in the logbook.

Sources say that the women shifted to JW Marriott hotel in Sector 35 on the same night and now have left the city.

On the next morning, their friends even cleared the hotel’s bill, which was around Rs 50,000.

When contacted, Vijay Sharma, general manager of the hotel, said that guests were of utmost importance to the hotel, and although there was no written complaint or any evidence available in the CCTV footage, the security guard had been dismissed.

To stop such incident in future, orders have been issued to ensure that only regular employees of the hotel are deployed on night duty, he added. CITCO Managing Director DK Tiwari said that he had checked about the incident with the hotel staff, and despite the fact that there was no written complaint, the guard was dismissed.

CCTV FOOTAGEThe hotel’s CCTV footage remains inconclusive as the camera was not facing the room directly. The footage just shows the guard entering the corridor, checking the lights, and helping the women open their rooms. The part where he, reportedly, entered their rooms is not visible.