Rs 25 lakh abandoned in restaurant likely to reach govt treasury

“Despite so much publicity in newspapers and television channels nobody has come forward claiming the money,” a senior police official on Monday said.

The cash found abandoned in the Saravanan Bhavan restaurant located in Anna Nagar was handed over to police on Friday by a restaurant employee. Police were hoping that somebody to turn up to claim the money since then. “As there are no claimants, we think we will have to remit the amount into the government treasury,” noted a senior police officer.

“We may wait for couple of days. Even if the money is remitted into the treasury, the actual owner will be able to claim the money,” the officer noted.

It may be recalled that one Ravi, working in the restaurant, noticed the bag containing cash when he came to clean the table after the customers had left place. The bag, which sported a ‘duty-free’ advertisement, contained Rs 25 lakh in Rs 2,000 denomination. Ravi immediately informed his manager Balu about it. As the customer who occupied the table had already left the hotel, the management decided to hand it over to the police on Friday morning.

“It is possible that the actual owner of the money is not aware that he had lost the money. It is also possible that he is not in position to travel and claim the money,” the officer noted.

However, the officers have not ruled out the possibility of the entire cash being black money and those who forgot it at the restaurant may not be able to explain the source of income, which may hold them back from claiming the money.