Crackdown On Foreigners Staying Illegally In Srinagar After Chinese National's Arrest

A crackdown on houseboats, hotels and guesthouses have started in Srinagar to curb the unlawful stay of foreign nationals in Jammu and Kashmir. During the checking - which started after the detention of a Chinese national from near the airport in Srinagar - the police said several foreign nationals were found staying without valid permission and intimation to the Foreigners Registration Office or FRO. 

Strong legal action is being taken against the owners of hotels, houseboats and guesthouses involved "for violating mandatory Form-C reporting norms required under the Immigration & Foreigners Act," the police said. 

Police sources said on Sunday, a Chinese national identified as Hu Congtai was detained near the Srinagar airport. The 29-year-old had already visited Ladakh without permission or registration with the Foreigners Registration Office at Leh or Srinagar. 

The man had reached Delhi on November 19 and took a flight to Leh the next day. In Ladakh, Hu visited several places, including Zanskar.

Sources said security agencies had intercepted some unusual conversations and alerted the police about Hu before he could fly back. After investigating his unauthorised stay at a guesthouse, the police launched a major crackdown on hotels and houseboats across Srinagar today.  

The police said in Lal Bazar area, an Israeli national was found staying in a guesthouse without Form-C compliance. Starobinsky Lior and a few others were staying in the guesthouse, and the management had "deliberately concealed" the information and skipped the mandatory online Form-C reporting, the police said. 

A First Information Report under violation of the Immigration and Foreigners Act has been registered against several houseboat owners in Dal Lake for hosting foreigners from Taiwan, Russia, Romania, and Spain without registration and intimation to the Foreigners Registration Office. 

In Rajbagh area, at least three hotels had allowed foreign nationals to check in without submitting Form-C to the FRO, the police said. In the Khanyar area, the police said a hotel was also found violating Form-C reporting requirements. 

"Despite repeated instructions, the management failed to produce any proof of Form-C submission. As a result, FIR No. 57/2025 was registered under relevant sections of law at Police Station Khanyar," police said. 

Further investigation into the cases is in progress to "uncover forward and backward linkages". "The Srinagar Police reiterates that all hotels, guest houses, houseboats, and homestay operators must strictly comply with Form-C submission norms when accommodating foreign nationals. Non-compliance is a serious offence and will invite strict legal action," the police said.