Three men attack colleague in Mumbai with knife after he asks them to stop smoking

The 25-year-old victim is in a critical condition; police are on the lookout for the accused

The police are hunting for three men who allegedly attacked their 25-year-old colleague after he demanded that they stop smoking at their site of work.

The incident took place on Thursday night at a marriage hall in Govandi.

The incident took place on Thursday night at a marriage hall in Govandi.The Deonar police said the injured man, Jaffar Hussain Shaikh, works for a mandap decorator.

“Shaikh was collecting chairs at the marriage hall when he noticed that three of his colleagues were smoking inside the hall, so he asked them to stub out their cigarettes, saying he didn’t want to risk a fire,” said a police official, who did not wish to be named. “That angered the three men, who started abusing Shaikh. When he retaliated, they beat him up.”

According to the official, when Shaikh fell down, one of the accused pulled out a knife from his pocket and slashed him on the head. “The trio then ran away,” he said.

The mandap decorator and some other workers, who were elsewhere in the hall, heard the commotion and came running to see Shaikh bleeding on the floor. They rushed him to a private hospital, and called the police. He is in a critical condition.

The three accused have been identified as Rashid Basheer Khan, 29, Abrar Shaikh, 22, and Irshad Mohammed, 26, all residents of Deonar.

The police have registered a case of attempt to murder against them.