Mumbai Hotel Theft: $6,000 Stolen From Kolkata Scientist-Businessman’s Room, Staff Under Scanner

New Delhi: A 65-year-old Kolkata-based scientist and businessman has reported the theft of $6,000 (around Rs 5.28 lakh) from his room at a five-star hotel in Mumbai’s Bandra West, prompting the Bandra police to register an FIR against an unidentified person.

According to the complaint, Rahul Roy had checked into the hotel on Wednesday afternoon for a business meeting. The cash comprised 60 US currency notes of $100 denomination each. The money was allegedly stolen from his travel bag, which was found partially open along with his wallet later in the evening.

How The Theft Allegedly Took Place

Roy told police that he was in his hotel room with his friend Anshuman Gusa, singer Anjan Guha, Nisha Chatterjee and another woman. At one point, Roy asked Gusa to open his travel bag and take out his medicines. The bag was left partially open afterwards.

During this period, two hotel employees entered the room. One reportedly came to activate the Wi-Fi, while another entered to provide drinking water. The group later went to the hotel’s 25th-floor lobby before leaving for a meeting with a doctor in Bandra.

Roy and his companions returned to the hotel later in the evening and went out for dinner. After they returned to the room, another hotel service employee briefly entered to collect used coffee cups.

It was shortly afterwards that Roy noticed that his travel bag and wallet were open. On checking the bag, he discovered that all 60 of the $100 notes, totalling $6,000, were missing.

Police Probe Underway

Following Roy's complaint, Bandra police registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) provisions relating to theft in a dwelling house against an unidentified person.

Investigators are now questioning hotel staff, including room-service employees, and examining CCTV footage from the hotel to establish who may have accessed the room and identify the suspected thief.

However, police said that nothing suspicious has been detected so far, and no arrests have been made.

Officials are also exploring another possibility. Roy has been asked to check with his family in Kolkata to determine whether he may have inadvertently left the money at home before travelling to Mumbai.

The investigation remains underway, with police examining the movements of hotel employees and other people who entered the room during the period when the cash could have gone missing.

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