The complainant said the hotel staff attacked his family members, including two sisters with plates, glass bottles and iron rods.
Published Jan 01, 2024 | 8:56 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 01, 2024 | 8:56 PM
Abids Grand Hotel.
A family of eight who complained of being served a raw deal in a Hyderabad hotel was allegedly attacked by the hotel staff on New Year’s Eve.
The issue has now reached the police, who took six waiters from the Grand Hotel at Abids in Hyderabad for questioning.
The Abids police have also registered a case under IPS sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons), 504 (intentionally causing hurt and provoking), 509 (insult the modesty of a woman), and 34 (criminal act done by several people).
The complainant, Sumeeth Singh (27), said he had gone to the hotel to celebrate New Year with his sisters, brothers-in-law, and brothers after 11 pm on Sunday, 31 December.
A resident of Dhulpet, Singh ordered mutton biryani, and when served, they reportedly found the dish undercooked. They asked for replacements.
“After eating chicken 65 we ordered mutton biryani. But when it came, we found that the mutton pieces were completely uncooked (undercooked) and the rice was boiled partially. We returned it and told them we would pay for only the dishes we had. The staff took back the biryani but we were denied fresh ones. The staff insisted we to eat, claiming that the biryani was freshly cooked. But we found that they had reheated the one that was served earlier to us,” Singh told South First.
A video, purportedly of the incident, being circulated on social media showed a group of men attacking unidentified people with sticks. The complainant also shared the same video with South First claiming the men (with sticks) were attacking him and his family.
Brawl over #Biryani on #NewYearsEve: A family of eight alleged that several waiters of Grand Hotel in #Hyderabad's Abids allegedly beat them when they asked them to replace their order — "uncooked" biryani — with a fresh one.
The complainant added that, instead of cooking a new… pic.twitter.com/jFW8t8kUMi
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) January 1, 2024
The matter escalated when Singh and his family approached the billing counter. “I had firmly told the staff that I would not pay for the biryani. It was for ₹800. The staff assured us that they would take the matter to the manager. But when we started to leave, they asked us to pay the total amount claiming we ate some of the biryani. So, I agreed to pay half the amount for the biryani to avoid any dispute,” Singh said.
While the hotel charged him with a bill of around ₹2,000, Singh calculated the amount to be ₹1,600.
“This was because I had told them I would pay half the amount for the biryani,” he said, adding that the staff then resorted to threatening and abusing him and his family.
“All their staff, around 30 to 40 of them came out, started pushing us, and attacked us. One of the staff manhandled my brother. They threw plates, and glassbottles, and attacked us with iron rods. The staff even attacked two of my sisters and dragged them by their hair,” Singh claimed.
He added that almost all of his family members suffered injuries and were later treated at the Osmania Hospital. “One of the guys was injured on his head. We were left with bleeding,” Singh said.
“We have brought six waiters from the hotel for questioning. We have secured the DVR (digital video recorder) from the hotel’s CCTV to identify all those from the staff who were involved in the braw,” T Narasimha Raji, SHO, Abids, said.
Attempts to reach the Grand Hotel’s management failed. South First will update the report with the establishment’s version once it receives a response.
