Bengaluru micro-brewery staff assault customers with chairs after argument over tip

The Koramangala police have remanded three waiters to judicial custody, and are looking for two others.

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A party at a Bengaluru micro-brewery turned violent when the waiters began throwing chairs and rods at customers on Thursday night. Around 11.30 pm on Thursday, waiters of Barleyz Pub and Restaurant in Koramangala began arguing with each other over tips they had received.

According to the CCTV footage obtained by the Koramangala police, the waiters were arguing loudly and soon began hurling chairs at each other. When a customer intervened and tried to pacify the waiters, they allegedly assaulted him as well, and soon, the staff in the kitchen arrived and they too began fighting among themselves.

27-year-old entrepreneur Deepak Kalauni intervened and asked the staff to keep the noise down and not ruin the night for customers.

“They did not listen to me. My friend Anand and I were concerned as they were throwing things at each other. One minute we were getting ready to leave and in the next instance, I was hit on my head with a chair. My friend Anand was hit by a rod on his head,” Deepak told TNM.

Deepak says that five of the staff members were fighting at this point and the customers began running out of the rooftop pub. “We were bleeding. We had some other friends with us and we managed to get out of the bar. That’s when I called the police and waited outside the pub until they arrived,” Deepak added.

Deepak and Anand were rushed to a private hospital by the Koramangala police. Deepak received eight stitches on his forehead.

Deepak alleges that the staff assaulted multiple customers at the micro-brewery. The bouncer allegedly asked Deepak and his friends to get out of the bar. “Instead of helping us, they asked us to get out of the bar,” he said.

The Koramangala police have arrested three waiters, who worked at Barleyz and have remanded them to judicial custody. “We are looking out for two more staff members,” the police have been added.

The five staff members have been booked under section 324 (Assault with deadly weapon), 506 (Criminal intimidation) and 34 (Common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

Barleyz has been shut temporarily after the Koramangala police issued a notice to the pub owner under section 21 (Investigation under offences of Central Excise Act 1944). “The Excise Department officials will conduct an independent inquiry and if they deem fit, they will allow the pub to reopen. Until then, it will have to remain shut. We have collected the evidence from the pub. The bloodied chair and rods and other items along with the CCTV footage,” the Koramangala police added.