Mumbai Crime: Crooks use youth's lost valet coupon to steal his car

A 24-year-old who gave his i20 for valet parking at the Peninsula Grand hotel in Sakinaka, returned to find that his car had been stolen.

The next time you hand over your car keys to the valet, make sure to keep the token safe. A 24-year-old who gave his i20 for valet parking at the Peninsula Grand hotel in Sakinaka, returned to find that his car had been stolen. Only then did he realise that he had lost his valet voucher. You know what they say, hindsight is i20/20.

The incident took place in the wee hours of Sunday, when the victim, Ashraf Khan, had gone to the hotel for a party. "I handed the car key to the valet and he gave me a coupon for it. Around 7 am when I came out and asked him to bring round the car, he asked for the voucher. I looked for it in my pockets, but did not find it. I told him the coupon number and car's licence plate number from memory, and then he revealed that two people had already taken my car after showing him the valet token," said Ashraf.

They searched for the car in the parking lot, to no avail. When Ashraf complained to the security chief, he checked the CCTV footage and they spotted two youths driving away in his car. On the head guard's recommendation, Ashraf complained to the Sakinaka police, who registered a case under Sections 379 (theft) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC. "We are looking for the two suspects with the help of the CCTV footage," said an officer from Sakinaka police station.

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