Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

City police to patrol coastline

Thiruvananthapuram: The city police will patrol the sea between Valiathura and Adimalathura in the wake of reports that terrorists had used sea routes familiar to fishermen and smugglers to mount their current attack on Mumbai.

In a press release here on Thursday, City Police Commissioner Ravada Azad Chandrasekhar said the police would enlist the help of the Marine Enforcement and Vigilance Wing, the State agency responsible for sea rescue and coastal vigilance, for the purpose.

The police would also insist that hotels accommodating foreign guests installed video surveillance and other security systems as a first line of defence against terrorist attacks similar to the ones in Mumbai.

He also asked hotels, lodges and owners of private homes accommodating foreign nationals and others as paying guests to inform the police about the particulars of their visitors. Mr. Chandrasekhar said the police would prosecute hotel and lodge owners who defaulted on the filing of C-forms, a mandatory form containing the details, including passport particulars, of foreigners staying on their premises. Hotel managements should ask dubious guests to furnish their photo identity cards before allowing theminto hotel premises.

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