Dhaba workers assault Army major, 15 jawans in Ropar, 2 held

Two persons, including a waiter of a dhaba located on the Rupnagar-Manali highway, were arrested while several others were booked for allegedly assaulting an Army major and 15 jawans over the mode of payment for a meal.

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 9pm for dinner.

The Major, in his complaint, said that 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. The injured – including the Major – were rushed to the nearest government hospital for treatment from where they were shifted to Command Hospital (Western Command), Panchkula.

Punjab Police have arrested two people -- identified as Rajneesh, a resident of Rajpura, Punjab, and Tanay, a waiter and resident of Uttar Pradesh. Raids are on to arrest the others. The case has been registered under Section 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation), 148/149 (rioting) of the Indian Penal Code.