Engineer dies 3 days after assault by restaurant staff

CHENNAI: A 24-year-old engineer who was allegedly beaten up by staff of a restaurant in Arambakkam in Thiruvallur district after an argument, three days ago, died due to health complications suspected to have developed after the assault, on Sunday.

The deceased was identified as S Naresh, who worked at a private firm in Thiruvallur .

Police investigations revealed that Naresh went to the restaurant in Ellavur on September 22 for dinner. As the battery charge in his mobile phone was low, Naresh gave it to the cashier at the restaurant to charge the phone. After dinner, when Naresh returned to pay the bill, he allegedly found the cashier looking through his phone, which enraged him.

Naresh picked up an argument with the cashier for looking into his phone without his knowledge. Soon, other members of the staff joined in. The restaurant staff allegedly ganged up and assaulted Naresh, who was rescued by other customers and was sent home.

Naresh did not disclose about the incident to his family members. After he felt uneasy and suffered health complications after the incident, he confided to his father Shankar. Naresh was admitted to a hospital nearby, where he died on Sunday.

Naresh’s family and relatives staged a road roko in Arambakkam demanding justice, after which police pacified them promising action. A case of suspicious death has been registered and police are recovering CCTV footage from the restaurant to ascertain the sequence of events.