Two held for attacking a chef and his friends from Darjeeling, one on the run

Three men from Kotla Mubarakpur allegedly thrashed a chef from Darjeeling and his friends with a wooden plank following a spat during the early hours of Tuesday in the south Delhi locality.

Police ruled out that this was hate crime and said the fight the fight was the result of the three men mistaking that Pradhan and his friends were speaking in English about them.

Friends of the chef, Pranay Pradhan, who works as a chef at a restaurant in Khan Market, said they were speaking among themselves in English and the three assailants thought they were making fun of them and picked up a fight. Police have arrested two of the assailants.

The incident took place around 2.30am when Pradhan and his friends Nitesh Shankar, who also works at the same restaurant, Ganesh, Laxmi and Leena Subba, were returning home after attending a birthday party. Police said Pradhan, Shankar, Ganesh and Laxmi belong to Darjeeling, while Subba hails from Nepal.

A senior police officer, who did not wish to be named, said police received call at 2.32am reporting a quarrel near Subhash Gali in Kotla Mubarakpur. He said when a team from the police station arrived at the spot, it found that two men who sustained injuries have been rushed to Safdarjung Hospital.

Police said at the hospital they found that Pradhan was still unconscious. “Shankar gave a statement that around 2.15am they were returning home after attending a birthday party. Soon as they entered Subhash Gali crossing, the three men, who were sitting there, asked them to leave the place quickly. On this, they had an argument and the trio allegedly started using obscene language. He alleged that the spat soon turned violent and the two women who were with them fell down,” the officer said.

In a video that surfaced on social media, Pradhan’s friend Ganesh alleged that the three men were drunk. He said the three men thought he and his friends were making fun of them and picked up a fight. Police, quoting Pradhan’s friends, said while two of the three men overpowered Pradhan during the fight, their third hit him on his head with a wooden plank.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Vijay Kumar said soon as the police were informed, they registered a case of attempt to murder and assault and teams were rushed to the spot to arrest the culprits. “Two men, Yogesh alias Judi (19) and Saurav (23), were arrested. Both are residents of the same neighbourhood and admitted to having attacked Pradhan. Efforts to arrest the third man, Vishal, are underway and the case is being probed,” the DCP said.

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