Mumbai:
A 57-year-old man has been arrested by the Colaba police on Saturday for allegedly committing a theft at the plush Taj Mahal Hotel and roaming around suspiciously.
The incident assumes significance as US president Barack Obama who would be staying at Taj when he arrives in Mumbai on November 6. The accused has been identified as Samad Sayyed Khan.
According to police, on Friday evening, a school function was held inside the Crystal Room at the first floor of Taj.
"Around 9.45pm, a woman known as Renesha, one of the invitees, realised that her expensive Blackberry mobile phone had gone missing. She then informed the complainant and security manager at Taj, Sunil Gajanan Kudiadi, about the theft," said an officer from Colaba police station.
He added that the security staff of Taj immediately swung into action and ran through the CCTV images. "A suspect was seen moving out of the room suspiciously.
Security staffers Purnanand Petwal, Sayed Firoz and few others, immediately rushed outside the hotel to apprehend the suspect," the officer said.
They finally caught him near the North Court Nursing Home.
"The hotel staff asked him about his motive to enter hotel. Since Khan was giving vague replies, he was handed over to the police. We went through to the CCTV footages several times and it was confirmed that Khan was the person who had moved out of the Crystal Room at that time. He was then placed under arrest on Saturday," the officer said, adding that the Blackberry was not found on him.
"Khan was neatly dressed and nobody could have doubted him if the security staff had not gone through the CCTV images. We are interrogating him to know why he was at the function and whether he had some other motives. Khan was produced before a local court and has been remanded in police custody till October 26," the officer said.
Copyright restricted. Under license from
www.3dsyndication.com