Kerala tightens watch on foreign visitors in state

In view of the terror threat to the state, the Kerala home department has issued instructions to hotels on accommodating foreign visitors coming to Kerala.

In an official press release, the state home department said as the terror threats were increasing, hotels, private homes and resorts in the state accommodating foreign visitors should inform police within 24 hours after they checked in.

A Keralite, Thadiyantavide Nazir, a suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative who reportedly had international contacts, now in Karnataka police custody, was involved in a few cases of terror attacks in the state.

The details of the passport of the foreigners, where they were coming from, and the duration of their stay should be reported to the nearest police station. The foreigners visiting the state should give information to the police under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act which should be done by the hotels and resorts accommodating them.

The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed by the host who was accommodating them, the release said.

If anybody accommodated a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules.