Allegations of illegal detention of hotel staff in Chennai hotel

Three employees, reportedly from Manipur and Mizoram came up with an accusation that the management confined them illegally in a Chennai hotel for allegedly stealing money. The staff members claimed they were detained and beaten up on the pretext of having stolen Rs 1.5 lakh at the Ignite Bar of Chennai Gateway Hotel.

Chennai Police stated, “The waiters told us they were confined on Saturday evening and thrashed.” In reaction to the accusations, the management has stated that the waiters engaged in money embezzlement while refuting the charges. The workers reportedly accepted payments into their own Google Pay accounts and transferred them to the hotel’s account, keeping 10% of the money as a gratuity for themselves, after the hotel’s card payment system malfunctioned. They claimed that it was standard procedure at the aforementioned hotel.

The issue became public when Dr. Aiswarya Rao, a social worker, brought up the same problem on social networking platform X. Chennai Police addressed the issue with a response. The police are awaiting the bank statements to determine the allegations made, and an investigation is in progress. So yet, there have been no arrests made. “One of the waiters has been associated with the hotel for four years, the second for one year, and the third for four months,” according to a police officer. “We are investigating the case from all angles and will take necessary action after the probe is over.”