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Journalism of Courage
An argument over ‘service charge’ at a restaurant in the NIBM Road area in Pune took a violent turn after the manager and waiters at the establishment allegedly attacked a customer and his two friends with a beer bottle and a glass jar Friday. The police have invoked attempt to murder charges and arrested two of the six hotel staffers who attacked the trio.
Officials from the Kondhwa police station said the incident occurred around 3.45 pm when the complainant, Houzefa Mustaffa Attarwala, 38, and a friend had gone to the restaurant named Spice Factory. “When the restaurant staff gave them the bill, Attarwala raised the issue of the service charge that had been applied. He asked the staff to call the manager. When the manager came, an argument ensued between Attarwala, the manager and other staff members. Our information suggests that as the dispute escalated, Attarwala called his two friends to the restaurant, and they all got into a heated argument,” said Assistant Inspector Dinesh Patil of Kondhwa police station, who is probing the case.
Patil further said, “Attarwala has said in his complaint that the five to six staff members attacked him and the two friends who arrived later. They were attacked with a beer bottle, a glass jar and a blunt object, suspected to be a metal rod. Attarwala and his two friends, Aniket and Ram Tyagi, in their 20s, sustained injuries in the attack. After Attarwala approached us with a complaint, an FIR was registered, and we have invoked attempt to murder charges, among others.”
Senior Inspector Santosh Sonavane, in-charge of the Kondhwa police station, said, “We have arrested two staffers, including the manager. Further investigation is on.”
