A visit to The Westin Dhaka at the centre of Papia scandal

A visit to The Westin Dhaka has revealed that the number of guests has dwindled as it is currently at the centre of a scandal involving a ruling party operative who had allegedly run escort services at the hotel.

An official cited the global coronavirus scare as one of the reasons behind the drop in the number of guests during the visit to the hotel on Wednesday.

Police said the hotel breached unofficial rules of informing the law enforcers about a guest who is staying for a long time, in this case, the expelled Jubo Mohila League leader Shamia Noor Papia who spent millions on rents of the most expensive suit and bar of Westin.

Papia has been headlining discussions for around two weeks after her arrest revealed stories about her alleged crimes such as trading in drugs and arms, helping others grab land, and forcing women into sex work at the hotel.

The 24-storey hotel is owned by Unique Hotel and Resorts Limited with businessman Mohd Noor Ali as the managing director.  

Ten days after the arrest of Papia, security checks are mandatory to enter the hotel.

After going up the escalator, the bdnews24.com correspondent met Rakhal Majumder, who runs a pearls and antiques shop on the first floor of the hotel.

Asked why there were only a few people even in the afternoon, he said it appeared the regular visitors shunned the hotel out of fear after the arrest of Papia.    

The law enforcers have said they would also investigate who had visited Papia at the hotel.

After the reception desk, three plainclothesmen carrying walkie-talkies were talking to each other.

The hotel authorities also appeared to have strengthened surveillance though after the arrest of Papia, they said they knew nothing about her wrongdoings.

The smoking zone on the floor was totally empty.

So was the bar and Prego restaurant on level 23.

A worker said the number of visitors has dropped but “everything will be alright in a few days”.

No customer came to the restaurant, which had been abuzz with visitors at all times a few days ago, in half an hour.

A person was swimming in a pool next to another smaller restaurant on level five. A video of Papia dancing with some other young women in the pool has gone viral on social media along with some others.

A worker admitted they had more swimmers earlier.

She claimed many foreign guests have cancelled bookings due to coronavirus.

A spokesperson for the hotel did not answer bdnews24.com queries on the number of visitors.

Speaking about Papia’s long stay at the hotel, police officer Sudip Kumar Chakraborty told bdnews24.com that the hotels are bound by rules to provide the law enforcers with information on foreign guests.

Though there is no rule on giving information on local guests, it is a long-held practice that the hotels inform the police about any Bangladeshi guest staying in for a long time, Sudip said.

“They should have informed us earlier,” the deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police added.