Swiggy fought

Swiggy delivery boys

CCTV footage

By Iffath FathimaSwiggy execs take on Empire staff and...Saturday turned out to be a shatter-day for Empire Hotel on Bannerghatta Road when its employees and executives froma pitched battle at the restaurant late in the night. Fortunately, none of the customers sustained injuries in the incident in which the executives pelted the restaurant with stones and broke glass panes. Police claimed that the incident was a fall-out of a minor traffic accident involving one of theand a manager of the hotel earlier in the evening.According to police, Nadeem (22) and Farooq (27) were involved in a minor accident near Vasudev Adiga’s restaurant on Bannerghatta road when their bikes brushed against each other. A verbal argument broke out between them but the traffic personnel stationed at the spot managed to separate the two. However, around 10.30 pm, Nadeem along with 25-30 people, including many Swiggy delivery boys, arrived at the hotel and tried to question Farooq. The situation spiraled out of control as a number of hotel employees intervened in the argument.“We had initially registered a complaint against seven members from the hotel on the basis of the complaint and took them into custody,” said a police official. After almost two hours, close to 1 am, a group of Swiggy employees and a few others returned to the hotel and threw stones at the glass panes, the police said.Empire Hotel CEO Shakir Haq said they haveand other evidence to prove that the delivery boys were out of control forcing the employees to intervene. He also added that the group was specifically asking for Farooq who was not present at the hotel at that moment.“We have suffered a loss of around Rs 12 lakh,” Haq added.Meanwhile, a Swiggy spokesperson said that they were appraised about the matter and were closely following it.“The incident has been brought to our attention and our team has been in constant touch with the delivery partners and the restaurant ever since. We strongly condemn such acts of aggression… We stand by our delivery partners and are ensuring they receive the right medical attention,” she added.Meanwhile, DCP Southeast MB Boralingaiah said that the police have arrested at least 23 Swiggy executives and seven employees of the hotel.“We will look into the case further and arrest all of them involved in the case. A case of rioting has been lodged against them,” he added.