Vicky Nanjappa in Bangalore/Rediff

Bangalore, Aug 10: Karnataka's intelligence agencies have said terrorists may target hotels in Bangalore.

Following the report, the Bangalore police held an emergency meeting in which it was decided to provide additional security to the star hotels.

The report said that the terrorists are planning to target the hotels in order to hit the economy they generate for the state. It will also hit the tourism industry.

Another reason why hotels are being targeted is because of the kind of clientele. Not a single day passes without an important delegate checking into one of the seven or five star hotels in Bangalore.

Those who check into hotels in Bangalore include the senior employees of the IT companies and politicians.

IB sources told rediff.com that the threat had become stronger after the UK terror plot in which three Bangaloreans were named. However, one of them Dr Haneef Mohammad was absolved of all charges while another suspect, Khafeel Ahmed died in hospital a week back. Only Dr Sabeel Ahmed is under detention in the UK.

The meeting which was held by the Bangalore police was also attended by the representatives of the hotel industry who also suggested steps to beef up security.

The new security pattern would begin at the intelligence level where each and every person coming into the city would be thoroughly screened and only then allowed into the city.

The next step would be to provide additional security to the hotels and there are even talks of making metal detectors mandatory at hotels. The hotel security would work in coordination with the police department.

The police, however, made it clear that there would be no discrimination when it comes to checking people checking into the hotels or for that matter even into Bangalore city.

Each person including VVIP's, VIP's, foreigners, locals and tourists from other parts of the country would have their identity checked prior to check in. The purpose of their stay and duration would also have to be made known to the police.

A study on the hospitality sector conducted by Indusview Advisors shows that Bangalore hotels are priced the highest followed by Mumbai. While hotels in Bangalore charge $500 and upwards a night, a hotel in Mumbai would charge between $ 400 to 450 a night.

Delhi ranks third with $350 a night.