Four ‘Iraqis’ flee hotel in Orissa, cops alerted

‘Search operations have been launched in Bhubaneswar and other parts of the state’

The Orissa police on Tuesday put its forces on high alert in all districts because it suspects that four terrorists have entered the state. District superintendents of police were asked to keep strict vigil and watch out for suspect vehicles in their respective jurisdictions.

According to Bhubaneswar-Cuttack commissioner of police Dr Rajendra Prasad Sharma, at around 9 pm on Monday four persons, who wanted to book two rooms at Hotel Arya Mahal in Bapuji Nagar, introduced themselves at the hotel as citizens of Iraq. They finalised two rooms for Rs 5,000. When the hotel manager asked for proof of identity, they could not produce any document. A plainclothes police sub-inspector present at the hotel reception for a routine check of the guest list then asked for their passports.

The four suspects said they had left their passports in a car which they said was parked at a distance and left the hotel reception to retrieve their passports. However, instead of returning to the reception, they sped away in a Ford Ikon car bearing a Delhi registration — DL4C9645 — which police verification revealed was fake.

On Tuesday evening, the police released a photograph one of the suspects and their vehicle. “The police is examining the hotel’s CCTV footage. Search operations have been launched in Bhubaneswar and other parts of the state,” said state director-general of police K.B. Singh.

Arya Mahal Hotel is located near Mahatma Gandhi Marg, the venue of the Republic Day parade.

“The police has seized the hard disk of the CCTV set-up and is examining the footage. Police forces in all districts have been alerted and asked to check the movement of all suspect vehicles and persons in their respective jurisdictions,” the DGP said.

In January 2014, two suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists had come to Bhubaneswar and surveyed the city as well as adjacent cities like Cuttack.

On December 16, 2015, the Delhi police had arrested an ISIS-linked terrorist, Abdul Rehman, from Paschimakaccha village near Cuttack city, 40 km from here.