The area outside the bustling Prabhadevi railway station was witness to grim drama on Thursday morning, after a customer at a country liquor bar allegedly stabbed one of the waiters to death after an argument.
According to the NM Joshi Marg police, the incident occurred at the Red Rose country liquor bar outside the station around 11 a.m.
“One of the customers was heavily inebriated and the waiter attending to him, Ganesh Janavlekar (49), asked him to settle his bill. The innocuous gesture of Janavlekar’s part angered the accused, who started arguing with him,” an officer with the NM Joshi Marg police said.The officer added that within minutes, the argument heated up and got out of control, with several other waiters and customers trying to calm the accused down. However, the accused refused to back down and in the heat of the moment, seized an ice pick and stabbed Janavlekar in the stomach.
In the ensuing chaos, the accused managed to flee the scene, while Janavlekar was rushed to the KEM Hospital in Parel, where he was declared dead before admission.
The NM Joshi Marg police were subsequently informed and a case of murder was subsequently registered under the Indian Penal Code and initiated inquiries into the matter.
Officers confirmed that a suspect had been picked up on Friday afternoon and was being interrogated.
“We are trying to find out whether the argument over the bill was the only motive, or whether there was some past history between the accused and the victim, as the accused was a regular visitor to the bar,” a police officer who is part of the investigation said.