NITI Aayog official loses wallet

Accuses staff of a coffee shop in Connaught Place of theft, case filed

NITI Aayog Under Secretary Varina Nathani has claimed that her wallet went missing at a leading coffee shop in Connaught Place here last week. The police have registered a case and started investigations.

Ms. Nathani had visited the coffee shop on November 5 around 2 p.m. and was working when she received a call and left her seat for a short while.

“I received a call but the network was bad. I asked a staffer to point me where cellular coverage was better. He asked me go near the exit and assured that he will take care of my purse,” she said.

Ms. Nathani said she returned to her seat after 10 minutes, finished her coffee and left around 3 p.m. For the next three and a half hours she was in meetings in Connaught Place.

“Throughout the meetings, my purse was with me. I reached for my wallet around 6.30 p.m. and realised it was missing from the purse,” she said.

ID card

Ms. Nathani claimed she had ₹10,000 and several important documents, including her Central government identity card, her parents’ health card and her debit cards. “Most importantly, the wallet also had important cards belonging to my mother, who was with the Ministry of Finance,” she said.

Absolutely certain that her wallet had been stolen, she went back to the coffee shop.

“I asked the manager for the CCTV footage. He claimed the CCTV wasn’t working at the time of the incident and that footage wasn’t available. Also, the staffer who had assured he would take care of my purse was nowhere to be seen,” Ms. Nathani said, adding th––at she called the police immediately.

She alleged that when the police searched the area, a staffer allegedly had the same amount of money as was stolen from Ms. Nathani’s wallet.

“It’s clear the staffers are involved in the theft as the CCTV became non-functional when my purse was left unattended but started working when the police arrived at the spot. The staffers claimed there was some issue with the socket in the afternoon,” she alleged.

Ms. Nathani added that she has been running around since the past week trying to get paperwork done for the documents that went missing along with her wallet.

The police have registered a First Information Reporter under Section 379 (punishment for theft) at Connaught Place police station based on Ms. Nathani’s complaint.

“The coffee shop staff members have been questioned. However, CCTV footage from the shop has not been given to us so far,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) B. K. Singh.

The coffee shop management remained unavailable for comments despite repeated attempts.