: An MBA graduate has been arrested for allegedly stealing around a dozen luxurious cars from the parking lots of five-star hotels in the Capital and other cities.
Satendra Singh Sehrawat, 35, would allegedly sell these cars to drug dealers who would use them to transport narcotic substances, said Ravindra Yadav, Joint CP (Crime). The officer said the high-end cars, such as Audi, Mercedes and Fortuner, were less likely to be stopped for checking by law enforcement agencies.
Describing Sehrawat’s alleged modus operandi, Mr. Yadav said the accused would dress well and visit the valet parking areas of five-star hotels. Pretending to be talking over the phone, he would sneak up to the key stand.
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Art of deception
“To those managing the parking area, the accused would come across as a regular businessman. Sehrawat would utilise that perception about him to quietly remove one key from the stand, and drive away in the car,” said the officer.
The modus operandi came to the Delhi Police’s notice on August 26 when an Audi Q7 car belonging to a guest was stolen from the Holiday Inn Hotel near the IGI Airport.
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The guest, Arjun Garg, told the police he had handed over his car to the valet parking attendant, but when he emerged from the hotel after dinner, he had found his car missing.
More cases
The fraud came to light when the CCTV cameras installed at the hotel were analysed. The police later learnt that thefts involving a similar modus operandi had been reported from Gurgaon, Pune and Mumbai.
The police went on to scan CCTV footages of five-star hotels and toll plazas in and outside Delhi before they zeroed down on the identity of the accused, a native of Jaipur in Rajasthan.
Sehrawat was nabbed on Monday after the police received a tip-off that he would be arriving near Hyatt Regency Hotel in Delhi to commit another crime, said the Joint CP.
His interrogation revealed that he has over 20 cases of thefts, robbery and causing hurt registered against him in many States. He has served various jail terms.
An MBA in marketing, Sehrawat had worked with a travel company in Maharashtra. His job entailed travelling with tourists, and dropping them to five-star hotels. It was during this stint that he learnt the “culture of five-star hotels”, the knowledge of which he utilised during stealing, said the Joint CP.