Fake patron tries to rob hotel of Rs 25K

The cashier of Aurora Towers had little idea that the English speaking customer could turn out to be a thug

The cashier of a city hotel was in for a shock when a well-dressed and English speaking man posing as a patron tried to rob him of a wad of Rs 500 notes. Firoz Shiraz Sheikh, the cashier of Aurora Towers, had little idea that the suave-looking customer, who was seeking a note of 1,000 denomination in exchange for two Rs 500 notes, would turn out to be a rogue.


Conman caught: Firoz Sarwar Sayyed Irani, a resident of Thane, was
arrested for snatching a Rs 500 note from the cashier of a city hotel
yesterday. pic/jignesh mistry

The incident took place in the small hours of Sunday when Firoz Sarwar Sayyed Irani, a resident of Thane, approached Sheikh for the exchange of notes.

The moment the cashier took out a wad of notes, Sayyed pounced on him and tried to snatch the booty of around Rs 25,000. When a few notes got scattered on the floor during the scuffle, the fake patron laid his hands on one Rs 500 note and ran away with booty.

But he soon ran out of luck as the Cantonment Police chased Sayyed down and arrested him. Alerted by the cashier, API S J Mulla, who immediately launched search operation, noticed suspicious movement near Hotel Blue Nile. The security guard at the hotel Laxmikant Kamble immediately recognised the thug, Sayyed and informed the police.

"We found three currency notes from his possession and the serial number pointed on one of the notes suggested that it was stolen from the Aurora hotel," said Mulla. The police are doing a background checking on the accused, who initially misled the cops by saying that he was a Pune resident, to see whether he had any criminal records. Sayyed was produced in the court and has been remanded to police custody till May 12.