Mumbai: Malad man celebrating birthday ‘fires’, triggers panic at bar

The car in which the accused escaped from the bar

A man celebrating his 38th birthday triggered chaos at a lounge bar in Malad West on Sunday night after he ‘fired' six rounds in the air. After arresting accused Hitesh Bhailal Parmar, the police found that he had used a toy gun that creates sounds identical to bullets fired from a weapon.

The police said Parmar and his friends were having a party at Rood Lounge on Five-D gully, Chincholi Bunder, when they got into an altercation with another group around 2 pm. As members of both groups tried to intimidate one another, Parmar pulled out what looked like a real gun and fired.

Patrons outside Rood Lounge in Malad West after the ‘firing'

Fearing that Parmar was armed, patrons ran helter-skelter. In the melee, Parmar escaped from the joint in his white Mercedes car with registration number MH 01BY 8212. After being alerted, Inspector Dattatry Gund, API Amar Dhenge and their team arrested Parmar near Ijmima Complex after half an hour.

Parmar told the police that he had a toy revolver that made sounds similar to an original gun, and 14 cartridges. The police said the toy gun is used for celebratory firing during marriages and in films. It is available on e-commerce portals, they said.

The police said Parmar used to work in the digital marketing field. He lives at Rustomjee Elanza tower in Malad West. Senior Inspector Pramod Tawade from Bangurnagar police station said they have booked Parmar for rash driving and endangering people's lives. "We are trying to find if the accused has committed such a crime in the past," he said.