Dine-and-scoot father-son held for cheating posh Mumbai hotels

Mumbai, January 14

A father-son duo were arrested for allegedly posing as hotel guests and escaping without paying bills after dining there, police said on Monday.

The two were nabbed after staff at a five-star hotel in Cuffe Parade in south Mumbai alerted police on Saturday, an official said.

He identified the two as 57-year-old Suhas Nerlekar and son Swapnil (32), both residents of Kandivali East.

Explaining the modus operandi, the official said, “They used to book rooms in posh hotels after introducing themselves as businessmen. Before collecting the keys of their rooms, the two would have dinner at the hotel and then sneak away without paying the bill.”

On Saturday, a hotel staffer stopped them while they were making an exit and asked them to pay the bill, he said.

“They were detained as they did not have any money. The police were called in and we arrested the duo under Section 420 (cheating) of the IPC,” the Cuffe Parade police station official added.

He said the accused had also reportedly cheated hotels in Colaba and Santa Cruz. PTI