Three IT employees held for assaulting shopkeeper

Three IT employees were arrested on charges of beating up the owner of a roadside shop following a scuffle over payment after they had bought cigarettes from the shop. The incident took place on Wednesday night in front of Unitech Building at New Town.

The young men – Arpan Dola, Nitish Mishra and Vedprakash – went to the shop and asked the owner Naruddin Mollah to give them cigarettes. Mollah in his complaint told to the police that usually people do not leave without paying him after buying cigarettes. Many IT employees visit his shop to buy cigarettes from him and pay after taking a puff. Thus, he had not asked them to pay him before handing them the cigarettes.

However, the situation soon deteriorated after a scuffle broke out between them and the shopkeeper. The altercation started when the IT employees alleged that the shopkeeper had asked them to pay more than the price of the cigarettes they had bought. There was a heated argument as the shopkeeper was unwilling to accept that he had asked them to pay more than what was their due.

All of a sudden, the IT employees started beating up the shopkeeper. It continued for some time when local people intervened and rescued the victim. They admitted him to a local hospital where he is undergoing treatment.

It was the local people who informed the police about the incident. Policemen from New Town police station went to the scene of the incident and then to the hospital, where they took the statement of the shopkeeper. Subsequently, all three IT employees were arrested on the basis of the complaint lodged by the shopkeeper.

A police officer said that they had been booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), such as on charges of voluntarily causing hurt and wrongfully restraining the shopkeeper.