Anand Dhaba near the Eastern Express Highway in Mulund (E)
While delay at being served in a restaurant can lead to irritation and anger, no one in their right minds would go to the extreme that four BMC employees went to yesterday - killing the cook.
According to the Navghar police, the incident took place over a delay on part of the owner of a dhaba in Mulund (E) in serving a meal of tandoori chicken and eight rotis ordered by the BMC employees.
The incident took place on June 22. The four assailants are drivers on the BMC's rolls, who had come to the Mulund dumping ground to drop off collected garbage.
"After finishing their work, they went to Anand Dhaba located near the Octroi naka on Eastern Express Highway in Mulund (East). Here, they ordered chicken tandoori and eight rotis," said assistant commissioner of police (Mulund) Mahadeo Gundewadi.
The four men left the dhaba after placing their order. Noticing this, the cook didn't rustle up the order. The customers returned a short while later, and demanded to be served. The hotel owner Uday Shetty then requested for 10 more minutes to get the fare ready. The four left again, to return a little later. This time too, they were told that the food wasn't ready. Infuriated, they started arguing with the owner.
"They assaulted Shetty. Karan Singh, the cook, rushed to Shetty's help. In the scuffle, one of the BMC workers banged a wooden plank on Singh's head, who started bleeding profusely and lost consciousness soon," said Sharad Ovhal, police inspector (crime) of Navghar police station.
Karan Singh was rushed to Mulund General hospital and shifted to Rajawadi hospital. He was finally admitted to Sion hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.
The police have arrested the four employees - Subhas Munde, Raman Rane, Pramod Satam and Amrut Pisal - all residents of the BMC colony in Deonar.
"Karan Singh had married just six months ago. His wife lives in Nepal. He would stay in the dhaba, and visit Nepal once every six months," said Ovhal.
The police are in the process of writing to the BMC about the arrest of their employees. "I am not aware of the arrests," said Sangeet Hasnale, ward officer, T-ward.