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A Delhi Court on Sunday sent Mahamed Sharif, the accused in the Leela Hotel cheating case, to two days of police custody.
The accused was presented before the Duty Metropolitan Magistrate in Patiala House Court, which remanded him to police custody. Sharif allegedly posed as an official of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government at the Leela Hotel and duped it of over Rs 20 lakh after checking out undetected without clearing the outstanding bill. He was arrested by the Delhi Police on Sunday. Sharif (41), hailing from Karnataka's Dakshin Kannada, prouced a fake business card and stayed at the hotel for nearly three months last year, the police revealed. It was alleged that apart from not settling the outstanding bill, he also stole some valuable items from the hotel, resulting in a net loss estimated at Rs 23,46,413. The police registered the FIR on January 14 at Sarojini Nagar police station, on a complaint filed by Anupam Das Gupta, who claimed to be the general manager of the hotel. "A case under sections 419/420/380 IPC was registered at PS Sarojini Nagar on the complaint of Anupam Das Gupta who alleged that he is the General Manager of The Leela Hotel Palace, Sarojini Nagar, Delhi and the accused person namely Mahamed Sharif stayed at The Leela Palace, New Delhi from August 1, 2022, and he ran off from the hotel on 20th November 2022 with hotel valuables and without settling his outstanding bills," the police said. A team was constituted to nab the absconding accused. Sharif was finally apprehended on January 19 from Dakshin Kannada. According to the police, the accused checked into the hotel with a fake business card and impersonated as an important functionary of the Government of United Arab Emirates (office of His Highness Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan). "He also gave a resident card of the United Arab Emirates on his arrival on August 1, 2022. After staying for about three-and-a-half months, the accused fled the hotel with hotel valuables and submitted a post-dated cheque worth INR 20 lakhs. But owing to insufficient funds, the cheque bounced, which clearly suggested his mala fide intent to deceive the hotel authorities," the police said. (ANI)
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