PUDUCHERRY: A 21-year-old youth was killed at a restobar in Puducherry after one of the bouncers allegedly stabbed him with a kitchen knife during a clash that broke out between the victim’s friends and the bouncers on Saturday midnight. The incident occurred at OMG (Oh My Gulp) restobar on Mission Street around 1 am, after the permitted closing time.
The deceased, identified as Moshiq of Sivaganga district, a postgraduate student at a private college in Chennai, had come to the union territory to attend a birthday party. His friend, Shajan (21) of Melur in Madurai, who had organised the party, also sustained injuries in the clash, and is undergoing treatment at Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute. The Grand Bazaar police have detained around 10 people, including the restobar owner, in connection with the murder.
According to police, Shajan, a private college student, came to Puducherry to celebrate his birthday. He went to the restobar on Saturday night, along with 15 of his friends, including Moshiq. The clash broke out after Shajan and his friends got too close to a girl, while dancing at the restobar, making her uncomfortable, police said.
AIADMK secy alleges gross police negligence in case
Other customers, who noticed their behaviour, complained to the management following which the bouncers on duty intervened. The bar staff and bouncers asked Shajan’s group to leave, and they left the facility.
However, they returned afterwards and picked a quarrel with the staff which turned violent, sources said. During the clash, a restobar bouncer allegedly took a knife from the kitchen and stabbed Moshiq in the back. When Shajan tried to intervene, he was stabbed in the waist. Both collapsed with severe bleeding, sources added.
Upon alert, the Grand Bazaar police rushed to the spot and shifted both the youth to the government general hospital in the locality. “Doctors declared Moshiq dead, and his body was sent to the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute for postmortem. Shajan is undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit.” a police source said. It may be noted that restobars are permitted to operate until 11:30 pm.
Police have detained around 10 people, including restobar owner Rajkumar, bouncers’ captain Ashok Raj, other bouncers, and staff members. Forensic experts have collected evidence from the scene. DIG Sathiya Sundaram, Senior Superintendent of Police R Kalaivanan, and other senior officers inspected the site for over five hours and examined CCTV footage. The hard disk containing the footage has been taken for investigation.
Meanwhile, AIADMK state secretary A Anbalagan on Sunday alleged gross police negligence in connection with the murder, and claimed that restobars in Puducherry have been fuelling law and order issues. Speaking to reporters at the party headquarters in Oupalam, he alleged that “high-grade banned narcotics” were being sold and “cultural degradation” was taking place unchecked in the union territory.