"The staff is supposed to look after the guests’ belongings."
In a heart-wrenching incident, wedding presents including gold jewellery and cash were stolen at a marriage held at the lavish Peninsula Grand hotel in Mumbai, India.
The wedding took place on January 27, 2019, and after an FIR police report was lodged by the groom’s family, police investigations are still trying to hone in on suspects.
Gifts which were presented to the bride and groom by guests and family worth lakhs (thousands) were stolen from the hotel venue on the actual day of the wedding in the evening.
According to the Mumbai Mirror, the father of the groom, Borivali businessman Dilipkumar Shukla, aged 53, said that a bag of gold jewellery, cash and other gifts were stolen from the luxury hotel and he is laying blame on the hotel for a lapse in security and not taking responsibility for the incident.
The hotel in the Sakinaka area is known for its grandeur and was selected by the family especially for the grand wedding.
Mr Shukla who is a property market businessman booked the banquet hall of the hotel for the wedding for a two-day event which cost around Rs 15 lakh.
Speaking about the incident Mr Shukla told media:
“The wedding took place at the hotel on January 27.
“After the guests left, family members and relatives sat down for banquet.
“We had kept four bags full of gifts.
“When we returned from the dinner, we could not find one bag, which contained around Rs 2 lakh in cash and jewellery.
“We were shocked — we didn’t expect such a thing to happen at such a luxury hotel.”
Mr Shukla contacted the hotel but says he did not get a valid response from them, saying:
“The managers assured me that they would conduct an inquiry, including a thorough inspection of the premises.
“I kept calling them for updates and after four days, they told they cannot be held responsible for the bag’s disappearance.”
“I filed a police complaint as a hotel of repute cannot dodge responsibility this way. The staff is supposed to look after the guests’ belongings.”
Raju Mukherjee, the manager of the Peninsula Grand hotel says this is a one-off incident and no guests in the past have had any issue of this kind, saying:
“We take the matter very seriously and have already conducted an inquiry. We didn’t find anything.
“We are fully cooperating with the complainant and continue to investigate.”
Police say they have questioned staff at the hotel including waiters and in-house maintenance after the robbery was reported to them.
They have also looked at the CCTV footage from the hotel of the day of the incident. However, they have not come across any suspects.
An officer from Sakinaka police station said:
“We have filed an FIR and are making further inquiries.”
Either way, the happiest day of the couple has been ruined by thieves.
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