Indian-American hotelier Vikram Chatwal has been booked for criminal mischief for allegedly setting two dogs on fire. He has been charged with criminal mischief, torture and injure animal, reckless endangerment and arson, a
New York Police Department official told PTI.
According to a report in local news website patch.com, the charges stem from an October 7 incident in which Chatwal allegedly got into an argument with a woman walking the dogs outside Chatwal’s home. Chatwal allegedly pulled out a lighter and aerosol can and used them to burn the two dogs, the report said. It cited the police to say that the dogs suffered minor burns in the incident. Chatwal is expected to make a court appearance in the case.
Vikram Chatwal is the son of Sant Singh Chatwal, who owns Hampshire Hotels and Resorts as well as the Bombay Palace chain of restaurants.
Besides being a hotelier, Chatwal is also an actor. He has appeared in films like Honeymoon Travels Private Limited, Days of Grace and Sold. In 2006, he got married to model Priya Sachdev in a lavish ceremony which included several high-profile guests like steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, model Naomi Campbell and former US President Bill Clinton. However, the couple was divorced in 2011.
Chatwal later dated Spanish model Esther Canadas and got engaged to her as well. However, the engagement was later called off by him in 2013. The businessman has also been linked to Hollywood actor Lindsay Lohan in the past.
In the same year, the hotelier was jailed in Florida after illegal drugs were recovered from his possession in the airport. A year later, he admitted to have been a drug addict and attended rehab ten times in the past.
