MHA orders probe if Gujarat hotel barred NE staff

The home ministry ordered on Monday a probe into the allegation that employees of northeast origin at an Ahmedabad hotel were asked to stay away during Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to the Gujarat city.

The home ministry ordered on Monday a probe into the allegation that employees of northeast origin at an Ahmedabad hotel were asked to stay away during Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to the Gujarat city.

Sources said the ministry asked the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to find out the veracity of the order and, if so, who issued it and why.

There were also reports that northeast origin employees at a mall in Ahmedabad were asked not to come for duty on the day Xi visited the Gujarat capital last week.

The IB has been asked to send its findings by Tuesday after probing the allegations of both the incidents.

The sources said that the home ministry ordered the probe taking serious objection to the allegations.

Last week, taking umbrage at the reports, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi had said, "It is an insult to the northeast. They doubted us as if we are not patriots. Are we not citizens of India? This is not good for the region."