For the past many years, there have been reports that terrorists were planning a Bali-like attack in the state. But, the state police kept denying the reports, apparently fearing that a panic will hit the tourism industry.

IG Kishen Kumar blames the tourism industry for not assisting the police. “There is no cooperation from the hotels, who are reluctant to assist the police. As the suspected terrorists stayed in guesthouses here and went unnoticed, we are planning to ask guesthouses and hotels to compulsorily demand identity proof or local references from guests. We can’t check every tourist. It is the duty of the hotels to help the police in this regard,” he said. “There was a high alert even during the International Film Festival last year. We could not trace a accused in a murder case in one of the hotels as they hadn’t bothered to check the antecedents of its guests,” he added.

IG Kumar clarified that red alert means reviewing the police system. “We did the same in November and December by gearing up our force and also recruiting three companies of CIAF,” he added.

On Friday, Chief Minister Digamber Kamat warned the local hotels that their licenses would be cancelled if they failed to keep records of guests.