ISLAMABAD: Police have asked guesthouse owners in Islamabad to hire the services of their recommended security guards amid reservations by the owners of these establishments regarding coercive measures, such as the registration of over three dozen cases, by the police to get their demand fulfilled.

A number of guesthouse owners, including Islamabad Guest House Association President Haroon Abbasi, and police insiders told Dawn that police officers were forcing the guesthouse owners to hire the services of security guards from the National Police Foundation (NPF). However, upon refusal, the police are registering cases against them.

Dawn was informed that the police officers were forcing guesthouse owners to hire two NPF guards each for a monthly salary of Rs56,000. The guest-house association president said the guesthouses have been paying Rs35,000 to Rs37,000 to their guards, but the police had asked them to dismiss them and hire the NPF men.

There are over 250 registered and 275 unregistered guesthouses in the capital, Mr Abbasi said, adding that only the registeredestablishmentsgenerated15,00020,000 direct employments and over 20,000 indirect employments.

Mr Abbasi and other owners even provided the names of two SPs, accusing them of coercive tactics.

These ofñcers are threatening the owners of the guesthouses and getting fake cases registered against them at different police stations, Mr Abbasi and others claimed, adding that over three dozen cases have been registered so far.

They said the cases were registered against them for not uploading the data of the guests staying there. There is a slump in the business, so how can we upload the data on Hotel Eye software when there are no bookings, Mr Abbasi said, adding the matter was also brought to the knowledge of the police officers concerned.

Mr Abbasi said one of the SPs told them to upload the data of old guests to show the entries in the software, addingthat they refused out of apprehension that the police would use this data against them.

Mr Abbasi alleged that the police officers told them that they were doing this under the directives of the senior officers. He alleged that the police chief, who also heads the National Police Foundation, was aware of the matter as well.

Cases against guesthouse owners The police have registered over three dozen cases against the guesthouses, few hostels, and a couple of small hotels.

Out of the total, over 15 to 20 owners were booked in a single case, Mr Abbasi said, adding that 37 FIRs had been registered so far.

The cases against the owners are being registered while sitting in the police station, and getting the name of the guesthouses and owners from the Hotel Eye software, Mr Abbasi alleged.

Dawn was told by the guesthouse owners that Hotel Eye had not been working for the last couple of days due to which they were facing difficulties in uploading the guest details.

All Pakistan Hotels, Guest Houses, and Tourism Association General Secretary Dr Osmaan Qazi Khan saidthat besides the registration of the cases, the police were also arresting the staff of the guesthouses and hotels.

Few of the arrested staff were nominated in the FIRs while the rest were neither formally arrested nor nominated in the FIRs.

Mr Khan alleged the police demanded up to Rs50,000 for each FIR which they required for the post-arrest bail while those staffers in detention, but not nominated in the FIR, were free d af ter paying Rs15,000 to R s30,000 against each person.

He said the owners met the senior police officials who gave them `forms of agreement` as well as a `quoted rate` to hire the security guards of the NPF. He said they also approached DIG Jawad Tariq with their complaints, but the DIG did not pay heed to their request.

DIG Operations Jawad Tariq was approached for comments, but he did not respond.

IGP Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi told Dawn that the police believed in the rule of law, transparency, and meritocracy.

`Police do not compel anyone for doing anything against his wish or will. Police work within the four corners of law,` he said, promising a probe into these allegations. `I am appointing a senior officer to probe deep into it as well,` he added.