Connaught Place woke up to the sound of gunshots on Sunday morning when an allegedly drunk man opened fire on a waiter who refused to eat his leftover breakfast.
Luckily, the waiter ducked and escaped the bullet, but the firing sent shock waves through the area forcing people to rethink their security arrangements.
The incident happened around 6.30 am, when the assailant, Rajesh, a resident of Uttam Nagar, arrived at an eatery in Connaught Place with two of his friends for breakfast. Rajesh, allegedly in an inebriated state, ordered three paranthas at the eatery which is popular for starting its service at 5 am every day.
The three men took a few bites of the paranthas and then asked the waiter, Monu, to finish off the leftover.
When Monu refused to oblige them, an argument ensued between him and Rajesh.
Enraged with Monu’s defiance, Rajesh fished out a country-made pistol and shot in his direction.
Monu ducked and escaped the bullet but that did not stop Rajesh from continuing firing in the air. His friends -Vishal and Sahil -fled the spot but Rajesh was overpowered by the other waiters at the eatery and handed over to the police.
“Rajesh and his friends Vishal and Sahil went to Jain Dhaba, situated near Shivaji Stadium, around 6.30 am. After he opened fire, we arrested him but two of his friends fled the spot,”said a police officer.
Rajesh allegedly fired five to six rounds from his pistol. The police have registered an attempt to murder case and also added charges under Arms Act as the accused was carrying an illegal weapon.
“The man (Rajesh) fired two bullets towards Monu but none hit the target. His two friends fled immediately after the firing but he was caught by the other waiters. We called the police and handed over the assailant to them,”Dharampal, the eatery manager, said.
The police did not ask the owner to shut down the eatery after the incident but security was tightened in and around the area and a PCR van was deployed in front of the shop for the entire day.
“We have the permission to run the eatery 19 hours a day. We opened it at 5 am on Monday. This is the first time that such an incident has happened in our shop,”the eatery manager said.
“Rajesh was arrested with his Santro car and a .32-bore pistol.
Two live cartridges were recovered from the spot. A case under sections 307 and 25/27/59 of IPC (attempt to murder and arms act) has been registered against the accused,”said the police officer.
Rajesh runs a food stall at a market near his house in Uttam Nagar. Waiter ducked and escaped the bullet. Assailant Rajesh was overpowered and handed over to the CP police.
