‘Dine and dash’: 5 flee without paying Rs 10,910 bar bill in Rajasthan, nabbed from Gujarat

A video of the purported altercation and demand for money by the hotel management has surfaced on social media.

The Indian Express spoke to the manager at Happy Day Hotel and Bar, located on the Abu-Ambaji road, around 11 km from the state border. Speaking of the incident, Piyush Lalwani said, “These four men and a woman, all in their mid-twenties, came to our hotel around 10-11 am on Saturday (October 25). They had alcoholic drinks and starters. Around 4:30 pm, they asked for the bill, which amounted to Rs 10,910. By the time a staffer went to get the bill, the four men left the hotel and went to their car, with only the woman at the table.” Sources said all five customers are residents of Anand in Central Gujarat.

As per sources, these five customers had drinks worth Rs 8,130 and other items worth Rs 2780. “The alcohol drinks include tequila shots (13 shots), several bottles of Breezer, three cans of beer…,” the source added.

The dishes they had were Bundi Raita, paneer chilli, peanut masala, vegetable cheese sandwich, kaju fry, green salad, French fries and vegetable kebabs.

Lalwami said, “When a staffer gave her the bill, she asked him to add two breezer bottles. She told the waiter she would wait near the washroom, which is located near the gate. By the time the waiter could go get the bottles, the woman ran to the car and they started the vehicle and fled towards the state border with Gujarat.”

Lalwani said as soon as the five persons fled, they called an officer at the RICCO police station of Sirohi Police. “We gave the officer details of the black car and the registration plates, which we had beforehand since one of the men had ordered a dish to be delivered to the vehicle as well.”

However, Rajasthan Police couldn’t intercept the car as they had allegedly crossed into Gujarat by then, however, with the manager and other hotel staff in pursuit.

The Indian Express also spoke to the Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Bhawani Singh of RICCO police station, who confirmed the sequence of events.

Lalwani said, “The Gujarat Police also tried to stop them but they sped away. They kept driving towards Ambaji. At the entrance of Ambaji town there was a lot of traffic and these people had to stop their car. We managed to catch up with them and asked them for the money. They said they didn’t have the full amount but paid Rs 5,500. Then they borrowed money from someone over a call and paid us the balance of Rs 5,400 online. We recorded the entire altercation.”

PI R B Gohil of Ambaji police station told The Indian Express he was not aware of the incident. Lalwani confirmed that the hotel decided not to file a police complaint as the tourists were “young” and they had recovered their money.