BENGALURU: At a by-invite-only science conference organized in a five-star hotel in the city last week, gold jewellery worth around Rs 3 lakh was stolen from a Mumbai-based geneticist. After going through the
CCTV footage and confirming the crime, victim Dr
Manjeet Mehta registered a complaint with High Grounds police.
Manjeet was one of the 29 speakers at the two-day conference — Biomarkers: From Research To Commercialisation. Manjeet Mehta was scheduled to talk on the second day, May 25. The theft happened on May 24, when she was listening to other lectures.
Manjeet had removed her jewellery and placed it in her purse, which was kept by her side. After the day’s scheduled lectures, she returned to the hotel room and found that the jewellery was missing from the purse. “I immediately alerted the organisers. Examination of the video clippings showed a man stealing it from my purse while I was still there. To my shock, he was also present in the participants’ photograph. He stole the gold in less than 10 minutes,” Mehta told TOI. She said the footage clearly shows the man arriving and sitting behind her.
‘Man gained entry into hall without authorisation’
He even adjusts the chair to make it comfortable before stealing the gold, and escapes,” she said. Manjeet and the organisers hoped the man would return on the second day, but he didn’t show up. This prompted Manjeet to approach police after she delivered her lecture on May 25.
The medical geneticist has an experience of 30 years and has been head of department at Dr Lal Path Labs, Metropolis, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and iGenetic diagnostics.
DCP (central) Chandragupta did not respond to calls made by TOI.
Maninderjit Singh, exhibition manager of the conference, said hall entry was restricted to select participants. “After going through the video footage, we found the person who stole the jewellery gained entry without authorisation, walking in with a group of scientists. He was wearing a badge but it wasn’t the one given by us,” he said. Singh blamed the hotel security for the lapse, claiming they should not have allowed anyone without registration to get in.
‘Not our fault’
Vishwas Jagatap, security manager at Le Meridien hotel which hosted the conference, however, said there was no security lapse on their part. “The man who was seen stealing had been present since 8.30am and was seen with other participants. We can’t stop guests once they enter the hall. His badge was similar to the ones worn by other participants,” Jagatap said.
