Bizman splurges Rs 4 lakh in bar, gets robbed by staffers
Revelry turns into nightmare: The victim was carrying Rs 55 lakh in cash; robbed while on his way home to Surat, but cops recover the loot.
A22-year-old cloth trader from Surat, on a high after collecting Rs 55 lakh in cash from a client, partied hard at a bar in Borivali on Sunday night, running up a bill of Rs 4.12 lakh, which he paid in cash.
Less than an hour later, the trader, Abhishek Mantri, was robbed of the rest of the money by four armed men, who intercepted his vehicle on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway.
According to police, Mantri drove to Mumbai from Surat, parked his car at the airport, and took a flight to Hyderabad on Saturday, where he was to meet with a client to collect Rs 55 lakh. He took aflight back to Mumbai the following day.
“He had documents in place, including bank receipts and papers from the Airport Customs, to show he had clearances to carry such large amount of money on board,” an officer from Waliv Police Station said.
There is no cap on the Indian nationals carrying legitimate cash on domestic flights, while the ceiling for international flights is Rs 25,000. “Mantri landed in Mumbai and contacted a friend, who accompanied him to Charwak Bar in Borivali (E) on Sunday evening. Mantri was a regular at the bar, and had befriended one of the female staffers. Going through the bill, it appears he had booked at least a section of the bar for himself, paid for several people, bought dozens of bottles of expensive whisky and had ordered a feast,” the officer said.
Around 1 am on Monday, Mantri asked the bar manager, Suresh Shetty, to accompany him to his car. “He took out a suitcase containing money from the boot of his car and asked Shetty and a few waiters to count. He told us that he tipped them around Rs 10,000,” the officer said, adding a sloshed Mantri then took off towards Surat.
In his alleged confession, Shetty told police that Mantri was “so drunk that it was impossible for him to reach home safely”, and that Shetty decided to take advantage of the situation.
According to police, Shetty and a waiter named Raghu Shetty got two of their friends to hastily arrange for a car (a Maruti Swift), and followed Mantri. They intercepted Mantri near Tungareshwar phata on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway 8, assaulted him with rods, and escaped with the bag full of cash.
Inspector Narayan Patil from Waliv Police Station said, “The bar staff immediately became our prime suspects, and sure enough, Shetty looked extremely edgy when we questioned him. He soon confessed, and was arrested along with Raghu Shetty. We have also recovered the money, and hunt is on for the other accused.”
The four men have been charged for robber under the IPC Section 394, police said. Mantri didn’t respond to the phone calls and SMSes.
A22-year-old cloth trader from Surat, on a high after collecting Rs 55 lakh in cash from a client, partied hard at a bar in Borivali on Sunday night, running up a bill of Rs 4.12 lakh, which he paid in cash.
Less than an hour later, the trader, Abhishek Mantri, was robbed of the rest of the money by four armed men, who intercepted his vehicle on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway.
Fortunately for Mantri, the Waliv police decided to interrogate the bar manager straightaway, who confessed to carrying out the robbery with the help of a waiter and his friends.
According to police, Mantri drove to Mumbai from Surat, parked his car at the airport, and took a flight to Hyderabad on Saturday, where he was to meet with a client to collect Rs 55 lakh. He took aflight back to Mumbai the following day.
“He had documents in place, including bank receipts and papers from the Airport Customs, to show he had clearances to carry such large amount of money on board,” an officer from Waliv Police Station said.
There is no cap on the Indian nationals carrying legitimate cash on domestic flights, while the ceiling for international flights is Rs 25,000. “Mantri landed in Mumbai and contacted a friend, who accompanied him to Charwak Bar in Borivali (E) on Sunday evening. Mantri was a regular at the bar, and had befriended one of the female staffers. Going through the bill, it appears he had booked at least a section of the bar for himself, paid for several people, bought dozens of bottles of expensive whisky and had ordered a feast,” the officer said.
Around 1 am on Monday, Mantri asked the bar manager, Suresh Shetty, to accompany him to his car. “He took out a suitcase containing money from the boot of his car and asked Shetty and a few waiters to count. He told us that he tipped them around Rs 10,000,” the officer said, adding a sloshed Mantri then took off towards Surat.
In his alleged confession, Shetty told police that Mantri was “so drunk that it was impossible for him to reach home safely”, and that Shetty decided to take advantage of the situation.
According to police, Shetty and a waiter named Raghu Shetty got two of their friends to hastily arrange for a car (a Maruti Swift), and followed Mantri. They intercepted Mantri near Tungareshwar phata on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway 8, assaulted him with rods, and escaped with the bag full of cash.
Inspector Narayan Patil from Waliv Police Station said, “The bar staff immediately became our prime suspects, and sure enough, Shetty looked extremely edgy when we questioned him. He soon confessed, and was arrested along with Raghu Shetty. We have also recovered the money, and hunt is on for the other accused.”
The four men have been charged for robber under the IPC Section 394, police said. Mantri didn’t respond to the phone calls and SMSes.
