Accused Arrested for Staying at Luxurious Hotels Without Paying
69-year-old man has been arrested for staying in over 300 luxury hotels across three decades without paying using fake identities. Further investigations are ongoing.
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A 69-year-old man has been arrested for staying in 300 luxurious hotels without paying the bills, using fake identities as a foreign tourist, English teacher, or yoga trainer. The man from Tamil Nadu allegedly continued this for more than 30 years. The allegations also include theft. The accused had previously been arrested several times.
About the Recent Incident
The accused had recently targeted the Hyatt Hotel in Raipur, where he stayed for two days. He left without paying a bill of Rs 63,755. He took away an office laptop, mentioning that he needed it for some office work. The laptop was worth Rs 1.48 lakh.
The hotel management later lodged a complaint. Anti-Crime and Cyber Unit and Telibandha police jointly investigated the case. Officials traced call records, documents, and CCTV footage.
Interestingly, the accused did not maintain any bank accounts or credit cards, relying entirely on cash and verbal deception to avoid leaving a digital financial footprint. The police recovered the laptop and arrested the accused in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, within 72 hours of the investigation. Further investigations are ongoing.
Sources claim that the accused confessed to the crime during interrogation. Officials told The Times of India that he showed no hesitation during the interrogation, describing jail as a "home stay" and luxury hotels as his "tourist destinations". The accused further stated that he wanted food to be served either in jail or at luxury hotels.
Past Records and Arrests
The man was first arrested in 1996 at Delhi's Tihar Jail. He had spent 15 years in prison in different states of India. The accused was previously arrested at a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He posed as an unmarried tourist guide and gained free entry with tourists at luxury hotels. After being released, he would travel to a new city every 15 days.
According to reports by NDTV, the accused told police that a staff member at a luxury hotel had insulted him after something went wrong. Since then, he has targeted such hotels.
How Did Accused Plan to Leave Without Paying?
Sources mention that the accused was inspired by the "Bikini Killer", who ranks among history's most infamous serial killers and swindlers. Authorities connected him to more than 20 deaths spanning Thailand, Nepal, and India. The killer's method involved winning over travellers' trust before drugging them and making off with their money and documents, and in some cases, killing them outright.
The combination of his crimes and uncanny knack for slipping away from authorities time and again made him a figure of global infamy, later inspiring numerous books, documentaries, and Netflix's series 'The Serpent'.
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