2 min readMumbaiOct 9, 2014 04:40 AM IST
First published on: Oct 9, 2014 at 04:40 AM IST
The Colaba police have been scanning several states for the past five months in search of four con men who committed two separate offences inside the Taj Mahal Palace and Hotel collectively worth Rs 31 lakh.
The first case took place on June 11 inside a high-end jewellery store located in the hotel. The police said that a man identifying himself as Pritam Phulka walked into the store with two young women and introduced them to the store staff as his daughters. “He told the the staff that he wanted to buy jewellery for his daughters and picked a diamond encrusted gold necklace worth Rs 7.5 lakh,” said Rameshwar Supale, senior inspector, Colaba police station.
Phulka then allegedly inquired whether he could pay for the necklace through a Demand Draft (DD). After the store said that he could, Phulka allegedly said that he would return a few days later. “Phulka went back to the store on June 15, a Saturday. He gave the demand draft for Rs 7.5 lakh from an SBI account and left with the necklace,” he said. Supale added that the store could not encash the DD that day as the banks had shut by then. However, when they did so two days later, the bank informed them that the DD was forged.
“Phulka spoke in Hindi with a Gujarati accent and was holding an edition of the Mumbai Samachar. Also, he was carrying a small leather pouch that is typical of Gujarati businessmen. We suspect that he also gave a fake name to the store,” he said. The second case took place in a cafe inside the hotel premises on August 30 when a Delhi-based businessman, who imports laser tubes ,was allegedly duped by a man called Baburao and his accomplices. The complainant was duped of Rs 23.5 lakh. A spokesperson for the Taj Mahal Palace and Hotel said, “None of the hotel’s standard procedures have been violated in these incidents.
srinath.rao@expressindia.com
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