Non-payment of food bills: 4 held in two separate incidents for attacking owner, staff

PUNE: In two separate incidents, four men were arrested for attacking shopkeepers and staff who refused on credit alcohol in one case and chicken dish in another

PUNE: In two separate incidents, four men were arrested for attacking shopkeepers and staff who refused on credit alcohol in one case and chicken dish in another on Sunday night.

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In the first case, four men who consumed beer at a wine shop SK Beer Shopee at Kalepadal in Hadapsar around 6pm on Sunday refused to pay the full amount. When the shopkeeper refused to provide credit and asked for payment upfront, he was attacked by the accused, according to a complaint lodged in the matter.

The complaint was lodged by the owner of a medical shop located adjacent to the alcohol shop. On Monday, the city police arrested one of the four, identified as Pratik alias Nanya Navnath Shende (18) of Kalepadal area. Three others are on the run.

According to the complaint, the four accused used bamboos to damage the glass counter of the liquor shop and the complainant’s shop. One of the four attacked the complainant in the stomach with the blunt end of a sickle blade and snatched Rs 3,800 from the broken counter. The four then damaged the glass counters of three more shops.

Hours after this incident, at 9:50pm, three men attacked the owner of a restaurant in Bhawani peth. The arrested trio has been identified as Baban alias Arbaz Iqbal Shaikh (22) of Bhawani peth, Athar Muzaffar Sayyed (23) of Gurunanaknagar and Saklain Yunus Qureshi (20) of Kondhwa, according to the police.

According to the complaint, one of accused asked for a chicken tandoori dish to be served on credit. However, a worker at the restaurant insisted on payment and it led to a scuffle between them. The worker’s uncle, who is also a staff at the restaurant, intervened and was assaulted on his head and back by wooden rods that was picked by the trio from a nearby construction site.

A case under Sections 307 (attempted murder), 504 (insult with an intention of provoking breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code along with Sections 7(1) of Criminal Law Amendment Act was registered at Samarth police station against the three.