Indian journalists nicked silverware from London hotel. And got caught.
Indians have a knack for displaying awkward behaviors. Like when people stopped to retrieve their luggage on a crashlanding Emirates flight. Or when senior journalists, accompanying WB CM Mamata Banerjee on a recent trip to London, decided to nick silverware from a luxury hotel. The only problem was, they were clearly captured on CCTV, leading to an embarassing confrontation. Here's what happened.
The grand setting where the events unfolded
Banerjee, on an official tour to London, was attending a dinner as a VVIP guest at a grand hotel. There were several senior editors accompanying her, "handpicked by their organizations," reported Outlook. Other guests were prominent Indian and British citizens including politicians and industrialists. It was at that distinguished event that a reporter with an established Bengali newspaper decided to steal the silverware.
The journalists had grand plans, but missed an important detail
The actions of the reporter didn't escape the watchful eyes of his colleagues. But instead of doing anything to stop it, they decided to join in, shifting silverware from the table to their bags. They didn't know the hotel staff was watching them on CCTV. "Or they possibly thought the cameras wouldn't be working as is often the case in Bengal," remarked a journalist.
The defiant, the bold... and the foolish
The hotel staff was confused: how could they charge the company of the VVIP guest in whose honor the dinner was being hosted? They finally decided to quietly confront them. It worked: the red-faced journalists promptly returned the items. But one denied the allegations. He dared them to search him. Fact: CCTVs had captured him shifting his loot into the bag of another journalist.
Manipulation skills didn't bear fruit this time
Apparently, this reporter has a "habit of pilfering stuff from hotels during foreign tours." The son of a reputed Bengali author, he used his father's connections to land his job despite having no qualification. He manages to attach himself to official foreign trips, stays in economy hotels, but reaches VIPs' hotels for a free lavish breakfast. The hotel staff ended up fining him 50 pounds.
Who are these people involved?
Though Outlook doesn't name anyone, a Bengali media house called Aaj Bangla mentioned a couple of journalists from the reputed Anandabazar Patrika and AajKal as being involved, DailyO says. Curiously, the post seems to have been taken down now. But is it much surprise?
