Driver steals Rs 30,000 from actor’s account, arrested

MUMBAI: A 23-year-old man, who worked as a driver for veteran actor Surendra Pal, was recently arrested for allegedly stealing Rs30,000 from his employer’s bank

MUMBAI: A 23-year-old man, who worked as a driver for veteran actor Surendra Pal, was recently arrested for allegedly stealing Rs30,000 from his employer’s bank account.

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Pal, best known for his role as Dronacharya in B R Chopra’s Mahabharat, had on August 20 left his ATM card in his wallet, which was kept in the car, while he was at a gym in Andheri West. His driver, identified as Mohan Kumar Saw, who has been working for him for over two years, dropped Pal at the gym from his Yari Road residence.

“When Pal went inside the gym, his driver took the ATM card from his wallet. He had somehow managed to get his ATM pin and thus withdrew Rs30,000. He later kept the card back in place to avoid suspicion,” said a Versova police source.

Pal immediately got an SMS alert about the withdrawal and with that, he next day approached the Versova police thinking it’s a case of card cloning. Accordingly an FIR was registered under IPC sections 420 of cheating and 66 C and D of the Information Technology Act. The Versova police launched an investigation.

“When Mohan Kumar came to know that Pal had approached the cops, he confessed to his crime. He said he was in desperate need of money,” the source added. He then surrendered before the police and agreed to give back the amount. The sources said the actor even tried to bail him out. He was produced before a magistrate’s court and the sections were changed to Section 381 of IPC for theft. Senior inspector Kiran Kale confirmed that a case has been filed. He was remanded to police custody for three days and later sent to judicial custody.