A group of around 10 Bangladeshi journalists who traveled to Mumbai to cover the World Twenty20 semifinal match between India and the West Indies were refused accomodation in as many as 19 city hotels because of their nationality, the Dhaka Tribune reported on Wednesday.

“You are from Bangladesh? Sorry, no Bangladeshi passport is allowed in our hotel," Banglanews24.com quoted managers of Hotel Sea Green and Hotel Sea Green South in Churchgate as telling the journalists. "There's no government permission.” Channelionline quoted another journalist as saying, “We were told to go to the Muslim-dominated neighbourhood of Dongri...”.

One of the Bangladeshi journalists, Mejbah ul Haq, confirmed the reports to Scroll.in, saying they tried 19 hotels before eventually finding accommodation in one on South Mumbai's Mohammad Ali Road.

However, Pesi Sidhwa, partner of Hotel Sea Green and Hotel Sea Green South, denied the allegations, saying that the reports were inaccurate. Sidhwa confirmed to Scroll.in that a group of 10 Bangladeshis did come to both his hotels on Wednesday morning. However, he said that they decided not to stay there because the room prices were too high for them.

"We welcome all nationalities," Sidhwa said. "We had a group of Bangladeshi families staying with us recently. We have never denied any nationality."

He denied that the government had issued any guidelines restricting hotels from giving accommodation to Bangladeshis. The manager of Hotel Silver Moon, Jashib, also denied the reports, saying that there was no reason to refuse accommodation to people of any nationality.