Munnar: A hotel owner and his two family members were hacked by a gang after a squabble over the delay in serving fried rice took a nasty turn. Four people have been arrested over the incident reported from Ikkana Nagar locality on Saturday night.
The injured are ‘Hotel Sagar’ owner L Prasanth (54), his wife Vinila (44), and son Sagar (27). They have been admitted to the Tata High Range Hospital with wounds on their heads and hands.
The incident took place at 9.30 pm on Saturday.
Those arrested by the police are S John Peter (25), J Thomas (31), R Chinnappa Raj (34) and R Manikantan (33). One person is absconding.
It was Manikandan who ordered the fried rice. When its delivery was delayed, he entered into a heated argument with Sagar, who was at the reception counter.
Around 30 tourists were at the hotel at this time. When the tourists were first served food, Manikantan summoned his friends to the scene. Soon, an armed gang arrived the hotel and hacked Prasanth and his family members with a knife.
They also wrecked the hotel, police said.
The assailants were arrested by a police team comprising Station House Officer Manesh K Paulose, Principal Sub-Inspector Shahul Hameed, Sub-Inspectors K D Maniyan, M K Nissar, K D Chandran, and senior Civil Police Officers R Ramesh, Dhoni Chacko, and V T Dileep.
