Mumbai: 50 duped with bookings for closed floating diner

The yacht that houses the restaurant in the Arabian Sea. File pic/Shadab Khan

The Bandra police are on the hunt for an unidentified scammer who is taking online bookings for Mumbai's first floating restaurant, AB Celestial, which shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. The scammer created a fake page for the restaurant on Google and is suspected to have conned around 50 people by charging them for reservations.

AB Celestial was India's first luxury dining restaurant on a yacht. The boat, located in the Arabian Sea 500 metres from the toll plaza of Bandra Worli Sea Link, included a banquet hall and rooftop bar. AB Celestial was owned by Chetan Vilas Bhende, who opened the restaurant in 2016. The restaurant was in business until April 2021. While Bhende wanted to reopen the establishment, after the lockdown ended, the jetty was taken over by the government for the construction of the Coastal Road project in 2022.

‘Birthday ruined'

A victim of the con told mid-day, "My fiancée wanted to surprise me for my birthday. She booked the AB Celestial on November 23. She got the restaurant's number from a listing on Google. The person who received her call told her to send Rs 5,000 but did not issue a receipt for the payment. She booked a slot for 3 pm to 6 pm, including decorations for a birthday, entry for two people and unlimited food."

A screen grab of the fake listing on Google for AB Celestial

"When my fiancée informed me about this, I checked AB Celestial's Instagram page. Contrary to the listing, it said that the restaurant was closed in 2021 and would reopen soon. I informed AB Celestial's owner about this. The person receiving calls on the number provided on Google says that they are a representative for AB Celestial and are taking bookings. The owner of the restaurant told me that several people had called him about this and that he had also registered an FIR. The police should arrest the accused and recover my money," the man said. The victim added, "This scammer spoiled my fiancée's plan and my birthday too."

‘Seek genuine page'

AB Celestial's owner, Bhende, told mid-day, "Someone is duping people with a fake listing of my restaurant on Google. We have informed the police and registered an FIR on Tuesday. We request people not to fall into this trap and look for genuine pages. We have a genuine website and Instagram page where we have uploaded all the information regarding our restaurant. We will operate the restaurant after the monsoon in 2024."

The mobile numbers from which the victims called are 9685541630 and 9175525697. "According to the information provided by the complainant, Bhende, there seem to be around 50 people who have been conned so far. We are working on tracing the number provided on Google and ascertaining the number of transactions made on the QR code that the scammer provided," said Senior Police Inspector Sanjay Marathe of Bandra police.

Dubious numbers
The mobile numbers on which the victims called are 9685541630 and 9175525697