Delhi:
A few drinks for fun cost Abbas Bhatt dear. The Delhi-based businessman was having a party at the F Bar and Lounge at the Ashok hotel on Tuesday night. Next morning when he woke up with a hangover, he saw 20 SMSes from his bank regarding withdrawals of Rs. 2 lakh in total. Bhatt immediately got his ATM card locked and approached the police to get an FIR registered.
Speaking with the reporter, Bhatt said that someone snitched his wallet containing his Standard Chartered Bank ATM card, his I-card and some cash.
"I came to know about the incident in the morning when I received messages from my bank. The person who stole my wallet has withdrawn cash 20 times. Each time he withdrew Rs 10,000. Police is examining CCTV footage to know who the culprit is.
I may have put my wallet on the desk at the bar while having a soft drink after which I left for home. It was late in the night. I didn't check for my wallet. In morning when my cell phone rang I noticed that I had 20 new messages and each one from the bank. I checked one of them and realised that I had lost two lakh rupees," Bhatt said, who didn't wish to be photographed.
A police officer working on the investigation said that an FIR had been lodged at the Chankayapuri Police Station after Bhatt gave them a written complaint. Police said that they have approached the F-Bar representatives to access CCTV footage to get a clue about the culprit.
"Senior police officers are looking into the matter as the incident took place inside a reputed hotel. No one has been arrested in this connection. We are trying to discover the identity of the culprit through CCTV footage," said the officer.
Abhas Bhatt reportedly runs a financial firm and has his office at Connaught Place. He said he rarely visits F Bar.
"First time anything like this has happened to me," he added.
A police officer said the case was being investigated and the media would be informed as soon as any arrests were made.