Gurugram: Hotel manager withdraws cash, buys gold with guest’s debit cards; held

Police arrested the suspect on Sunday and also recovered the 40gm of gold coin he had bought using the debit cards

Police on Sunday arrested a 32-year-old man working as a manager at a local hotel in Gurugram for allegedly stealing debit cards of a guest and doing transactions worth ₹3.1 lakh.

The suspect allegedly stole debit cards of a guest and doing transactions worth ₹3.1 lakh. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

On December 3 last year, Vivek Yadav (60), a resident of Indrapuri in Gurugram, complained to the police that someone withdrew cash and purchased gold coins from a jeweller using his debit card though the card was still in his possession.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said Yadav alleged he had two cards. Since he was not keeping well, he could not visit the bank and check the status of the transaction. “Due to his illness, Yadav could not get the cards blocked but was shocked to receive transaction messages from the bank. Later, when he went to withdraw cash and a message popped up in the ATM saying his account balance was low, he approached police,” he said.

Sangwan said a case was registered under sections 379 and 420 of the IPC at the City police station and the case was handed over the to the crime investigation unit of Sector 17.

The police team started scanning CCTV footage and took the bank details to verify the allegations. According to the bank statement, the card was used near a bus stand to withdraw cash and gold coins were bought from Sadar market, said police.

During investigation, Sangwan said, Yadav revealed he put up at a local hotel near the bus stand for three days, before he approached police to lodge a complaint. He went to an ATM with an employee of a hotel to withdraw cash and clear his hotel dues.

“We recovered CCTV footage and questioned the hotel manager, identified as Sonu Kumar of Aurangabad in Bihar, who lives in a rented room in Sector 12. He confessed to having taken advantage of the victim, as he was in an inebriated state most of the time,” said Sangwan.

According to police, during questioning, Kumar said that when Yadav was presented the hotel bill, he asked the manager to come with him to a nearby ATM. Yadav was allegedly in an inebriated state and not even in a condition to move. After returning to the room, Kumar allegedly took his ATM cards, withdrew ₹1 lakh cash and bought gold (40 grams) worth ₹2.1 lakh.

Police arrested Kumar from the bus stand area on Sunday and also recovered the 40gm of gold coin he had bought using the debit cards.