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Assault on major, army jawans: 3 more held; dhabha sealed
The police said Jaikar Singh, son of the owner of Alpine dhabha in Bharatgarh and Manpreet Singh, dhabha manager, and Mahesh Sailesh, a waiter, have been arrested. Five arrests have been made in the case so far. Rupnagar police further said they had sealed the dhabha for investigation.
The Rupnagar police arrested three more accused in a case of allegedly assaulting an army major and 15 jawans over the mode of payment for a meal on March 11.
The police said Jaikar Singh, son of the owner of Alpine dhabha in Bharatgarh and Manpreet Singh, dhabha manager, and Mahesh Sailesh, a waiter, have been arrested. Five arrests have been made in the case so far. Rupnagar police further said they had sealed the dhabha for investigation.
Punjab Police had already arrested two people — Rajneesh of Rajpura, and Tanay Kumar, a waiter and resident of Uttar Pradesh.
A case has been registered under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 148/149 (rioting) of the Indian Penal Code at Kiratpur Sahib police station.
The incident took place on March 11 when Major Sachin Singh Kuntal and 15 jawans from Ladakh Scouts were returning to Chandimandir Cantonment in Panchkula after winning the Snow Marathon in Lahaul, Himachal Pradesh. On the way, they stopped at Alpine dhaba around 9 pm for dinner. The Major, in his complaint, said after having the meal, he asked to pay the bill via UPI or debit card as he didn’t have enough cash. “The dhaba owner refused, and insisted on cash payment just to avoid taxes,” the Major said in his police complaint. After some exchange of words, the dhaba owner arranged a bar code for online payment. After the Major completed the transaction, the dhaba owner told him he didn’t receive any confirmation on the payment and insisted on cash payment.
As the Major refused, the dhaba owner called a group of around 30-35 people and attacked the officer and his jawans with sticks and iron rods.
In the incident, six army personnel, including the Major, had suffered injuries, who were given first aid at Rupnagar and later shifted to Command Hospital (Western Command) in Panchkula.
Rupnagar SSP Gulneet Khurana said, “Police have also identified five more accused involved in the case and raids are being conducted to nab them.”
“Army authorities have been kept informed of all developments and deep appreciation has been conveyed for the restraint shown by the soldiers during the unprovoked assault on them,” said the Punjab government in a press release on Thursday.
Inspector Jatin Kapoor, station house officer, Kiratpur Sahib, said all four accused were produced in the district court on Thursday, and two-day police remand had already been granted by the court. The fifth accused was arrested late Thursday night. The SHO added that they would interrogate the arrested accused to get details of the remaining accused in the case.
