Order delayed, eatery owners skewer customer to death for questioning them

New Delhi
Owners of a restaurant at Tagore Garden, west Delhi, and their associates allegedly stabbed and killed a customer using skewers and other objects in the early hours of Wednesday, as an argument over delayed food delivery snowballed into a physical confrontation, police said.
The owners, Ajay Narula, 56, and his son Ketan, 24, were arrested and booked for murder, police said.
The victim was identified as Harneet Singh Sachdeva, 29, who was accompanied by his friends, Preet Singh, 25, and Jagjeet Singh, 25, to The Kafilla, a restaurant, first and then to Ketan’s Food Court, where the murder took place around 3am. Police said both outlets are owned by Narulas.
“Due to a delay in his (Sachdeva) order, an altercation took place between him and the staff at the restaurant. The staff called up and informed the owners, who came there with more people. A fight ensued between Sachdeva, his friend, and the restaurant owners. Later, the injured man was taken to the hospital by his friend, but was declared brought dead. Ketan and Ajay have been apprehended,” said deputy commissioner of police (west) Vichitra Veer.
Preet Singh alleged that both restaurants were operating during beyond permissible timings into the night, and DCP Veer said an inquiry was initiated to look into it. Police were informed of the murder by the hospital.
According to an initial probe, police said the events started around 12.30am when Preet and Jagjeet, his nephew, met Sachdeva in Subhash Nagar. They decided to visit The Kafilla restaurant in D Block of DDA Market to eat.
“Some employees of the restaurant were standing outside to take orders from customers. We wanted to eat Chinese food and placed our order. The staffer asked us to visit their other outlet, Ketan’s Food Court, at Subhash Market in Tagore Garden, which was some distance away. We went there, sat on the stairs of another shop, and waited for the delivery of our food,” Preet said.
As it was raining and they had been waiting for over half an hour, Sachdeva went to enquire about the delay, when an altercation broke out. Angered, Sachdeva approached a guard in the vicinity, took his stick and approached the chef, who was hurling abuses, following which Sachdeva hit the chef with the stick, Preet said.
“As the quarrel was captured on the CCTV camera, the owners of the restaurant, who were present at The Kafilla restaurant, saw it and arrived at the spot on a scooter. Two to three of his employees also came with them. Ketan was holding an object that looked like a knife. He attacked Sachdeva from behind and his father also joined him. Their employees attacked my friend with skewers. Sachdeva suffered stab wounds and collapsed. The attackers fled and we rushed Sachdeva to a nearby private hospital, where he was declared dead,” Preet said.
HT tried to contact the representatives of the two restaurants for their version, but their phones were switched off. Text messages seeking their comment also went unanswered.
Police said Sachdeva lived at Chander Vihar, west Delhi, with his mother and wife. He worked as a labourer and had been previously involved in a case of quarrel, police said.
Sachdeva’s mother, Paramjeet Singh, in a video, said: “We don’t know what exactly had happened at the restaurant and why my son was killed. If there was some altercation, why did they (people related to the restaurant) kill him? I want justice for my son.”
A police officer involved in the probe said that five to six suspects were being questioned. “More arrests will take place in the case,” the officer said.