Eatery owner shot at over bill on Meerut road

GHAZIABAD: An eatery owner was allegedly shot by a group of men during an argument that broke out over bill payment in Ghaziabad on Wednesday. The crime took place in an eatery located adjacent to a liquor vend on Meerut road in the evening.
The victim, Naresh, sustained a gunshot wound on his right knee and was rushed to a hospital for treatment, where his condition is stated to be stable.

The attackers fled from the eatery in their black-colour four-wheeler, which is yet to be identified by police.

According to police sources, the four-wheeler had ‘Police’ stickers pasted upon both its rear and front windshields. According to eyewitnesses, the men had food at the eatery after consuming alcohol from the adjoining vend. “After finishing their food, the men left the eatery one after the other. They had run up a bill of Rs 1,250. Naresh stopped the last man while he was leaving and asked him to clear the bill. A quarrel ensued when the last man also tried to flee. One of the men opened fire upon Naresh,” said Mohit, an eyewitness, who works at the eatery. According to eyewitnesses, the man who was on the driver’s seat of the four-wheeler had opened fire. A police team was deployed at the spot in order to prevent any breakdown in law and order.

“The eatery owner, Naresh, belongs to Hapur district. He is stable. An FIR pertaining to attempt to murder is being registered against unidentified persons,” said Sihani Gate police station SHO Vinod Kumar Pandey.