Four held for assaulting waiter

MUMBAI: The Nagpada police on Friday arrested four men for allegedly assaulting the waiter of a restaurant-cum-bar in Kamathipura after he urged them to pay their bill. The men were at the bar for a party, but were trying to pass on the responsibility of paying the bill to each other when the waiter suggested they split it equally among themselves; this angered the youth and they smashed beer bottles on the waiter’s head and assaulted other staff members, said police.

The four arrested accused were identified as Samay Kuril, 19, Manav Matharnkandi, 19, Tushar Barve, 22, and Garv Bhambari, 20. While first three live in Sion Koliwada, the fourth person is a resident of Panvel. They were arrested following a complaint lodged by the waiter Manjit Verma, 35.

According to Verma’s complaint, the men visited Balaji Restaurant and Bar at Kamathipura for food and drinks on Friday afternoon. When he handed them the bill worth ₹3,200 after the meal, they started arguing amongst themselves regarding who would pay the bill.

“When Verma saw that they were not reaching any conclusion, he intervened and suggested that they should contribute and pay the bill,” said a police officer. The men subsequently abused Verma, and two of them smashed a beer bottle each on his head. When Vinod Yadav, another waiter, tried to intervene, they smashed a beer bottle on his head too.

The accused then broke the bar’s glass door and threw a stone towards Verma and Yadav, who started bleeding profusely. They even pointed a broken beer bottle towards the public and threatened them in case they intervened in the fight. Later, the owner Prakash Shetty and the police reached the spot and nabbed the accused, said police.

Apart from Matharnkandi, the others are accused in multiple cases for robbery, theft, molestation and assault, registered at Antop Hill, RCF and Sion police stations.

“We have booked them under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon or means), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code,” said the police officer.