Manager, cooks arrested after rat found in dish at popular Bandra restaurant

An official from Bandra police confirmed the arrest of hotel manager Vivian Sequeira and two cooks. “They have been booked under sections 272 (adulteration of food meant to be sold) and 336 (rash or negligent behaviour that endangers a person’s life) of Indian Penal Code,” said the officer

MUMBAI: The manager and two cooks of a well-known Bandra restaurant were arrested on Tuesday after a customer complained of finding a baby rat in his dish.

The incident has found mention in the Google reviews section of the restaurant as well. “We had been to Papa Pancho Da Dhaba yesterday, people sitting on my adjoining table had ordered a chicken dish.To their utter surprise they saw a rat in the dish after having few chicken pieces and gravy. I myself saw the rat. The customer who consumed this dish was not feeling well after having the dish,” wrote one Sandesh Mahajan. (Vijay Bate/HT Photo))

A police complaint was lodged by a bank executive from Goregaon, Anurag Singh, on Monday after his less than savoury meal at Papa Pancho Da Dhaba on Sunday night. The restaurant has been popular for its Punjabi fare for over two decades.

He told the police that he had gone for dinner on Sunday to the restaurant after a day of shopping in Bandra. Singh said he found a baby rat in the chicken dish he had ordered. He initially had not noticed it and consumed some of it as he thought it to be a piece of chicken. On closer look, he realised it was, in fact, a baby rat.

“After shopping in Bandra, we stopped at the restaurant for dinner,” recalled Singh. “The chicken curry that I ordered seemed to have a piece of meat that looked much lighter in colour. When I picked it out with a spoon, it turned out to be a small rat,” Singh said. HT has seen the image of the baby rat in the food but has refrained from publishing it.

When he complained to the wait staff, he said they were apologetic, but the manager did not even come forward for the next 45 minutes. Singh said he started feeling sick right after discovering the rat in the curry some of which he had already consumed. He consulted a doctor on the way back home who prescribed some medication.

An official from Bandra police confirmed the arrest of hotel manager Vivian Sequeira and two cooks. “They have been booked under sections 272 (adulteration of food meant to be sold) and 336 (rash or negligent behaviour that endangers a person’s life) of Indian Penal Code,” said the officer. The three were released on bail. He said they are now probing the meat supplier of the restaurant.

Manager Sequeira said that theirs is a very old restaurant and no such incident had occurred in the last 22 years. “The two customers hailing from Rajasthan were heavily drunk and the server spotted them consuming alcohol and objected to it since we don’t serve alcohol,” he said. He added that he felt that they intentionally did it to extort money from the restaurant. The food is checked by multiple staff members and so such a thing will never happen, he insisted.

Lawyer for the restaurant Advocate Devraj Gore said that the two customers were drunk and had almost finished the food when they pointed out the rat in the dish after the staff objected to them consuming alcohol. “They even asked the manager whether he would like to settle the matter. Later, they approached the cops. They have ruined the lives of two poor people who are our cooks and do not have any criminal cases against them,” he said.

Gore went on to allege that the cops didn’t go by the book in this case as they failed to do a spot panchnama or include any FDA officials in their investigation. “They have not even taken any samples for testing. Nor was there a medical test of the complainant who claims to have eaten the allegedly contaminated curry. It was much later in the night that they asked the chef to get it to the station. Since it was not sealed and taken in front of witnesses, there are chances that it could be mishandled,” he said.

The incident has found mention in the Google reviews section of the restaurant as well. “We had been to Papa Pancho Da Dhaba yesterday, people sitting on my adjoining table had ordered a chicken dish. To their utter surprise they saw a rat in the dish after having few chicken pieces and gravy. I myself saw the rat. The customer who consumed this dish was not feeling well after having the dish,” wrote one Sandesh Mahajan.