Denied free meals, DU students vandalise fast food outlet

The accused wanted the restaurant to cater to about a thousand participants and visitors expected at a marathon to be organised by DUSU

Denied free meals, DU students vandalise fast food outlet

The accused wanted the restaurant to cater to about a thousand participants and visitors expected at a marathon to be organised by DUSU

The employees at Nirula's restaurant in vicinity of Delhi University's north campus were looking forward for an evening of celebration on Saturday last as India was about to take on Sri Lanka in the World Cup final. But by afternoon, their hopes were dashed after some of them landed in a hospital.

Fight for food: DUSU members broke a glass pane (encircled) at the
Nirula's restaurant near Delhi University after the cashier refused to
organise free meals for a thousand people. Pic/Imtiyaz Khan

The incident happened at around 12.40 pm when three Delhi University students, who incidentally happened to be office bearers of the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU), barged into the restaurant and beat up the restaurant cashier and other employees.

The three, identified as Dhamender (sports secretary DUSU), Deepak Bansal (Cultural Secretary), and Ravinder Negi Mota had asked the cashier to make arrangements for free meals for around thousand students who were supposed to attend a marathon to be organised by DUSU.

According to the complaint filed by restaurant manger Satender Singh, when the cashier Devdutt refused their request and asked them move out, the students beat him up and then barged inside the kitchen of the restaurant and beat up the employees there too. The DUSU leaders then allegedly broke the crockery, threw the chairs out and even broke glass pane on the door of the restaurant.

Police were called in and they took the injured Devdutt and another employee Anil Kumar to Bara Hindu Rao Hospital.

"This was not the first time when we are beaten up. These DUSU leaders often come and pick up arguments with us. It was however for the first time that we had to call the police as they brutally beat up our employees with rods and sticks which they were carrying," said Satender. Police have registered an FIR against the students. However, none of them has been arrested.

Meanwhile, speaking with MiD DAY, the DUSU leaders denied the charges made by restaurant manager and said they were being framed. They said that DUSU was planning to organise a mini marathon and they had had gone to meet restaurant manager to discuss sponsorship for the event.

They even denied that they had attack anyone inside the restaurant and instead alleged it was they who were beaten up by restaurant employees.u00a0 "They have given my name in the FIR but I was in Chandigarh when the incident happened," said Mota.