Thought for food: 60 men land in hospital after scuffle over payment

Vendor says customer, a local landlord, refused to pay; customer says he cancelled order over poor hygiene.


Owais Jafri May 26, 2013
Some of the injured men had to be taken to the Jatoi and Alipur tehsil headquarters hospitals. Others went to private clinics. PHOTO: FILE

MULTAN:


As many as 60 men landed in hospitals in Jatoi in the Muzaffargarh district on Sunday after a scuffle that started apparently when a customer refused to pay Rs20 to a roadside vendor.


Police said Abu Sufian, a local landlord had ordered two rice plates from a vendor. A few minutes later, witnesses said, he got up to leave without paying his Rs40 bill.

When Salman Hassan, the vendor, demanded payment, Sufian said that he would not pay more than Rs10 for “the rice was of poor standard”.

Hassan’s emphasis on payment of the bill led to an argument between the two.



Police quoted Miqdaad, a daily wager who worked close by, as saying that some other vendors stopped the two men, who had started pushing at each other away by this time. After more than a 20-minute argument, he said, Sufian agreed to pay Rs20.

However, the boy told police, during this time Sufian had called some men to the scene, who started beating Hassan as soon as they arrived.

He said they tore the banner on Hassan’s cart and threw away his crockery. He said there were more than 50 of them.

On seeing the men attack Hassan, some labourers working in the vicinity who ate from the cart every day, rushed to his rescue.

The brawl involved more than 80 men.

Someone informed the police, who arrived at the scene 30 minutes later. By the time they arrived, some 60 men had been injured.

Witnesses later told the police that some of them brought bricks from a nearby construction site and threw them at others.

Some of the injured men had to be taken to the Jatoi and Alipur tehsil headquarters hospitals. Others went to private clinics. None of them was reported to be in critical condition.

Police said none of them had been arrested and that they had not received a complaint.



Talking to The Express Tribune, Hassan said the landlord was used to exploiting the poor. He said he had not filed a complaint since “he could not afford to fight them (landlords)”.

He said, “I know no one will stand by me, if I take the case to the police.”

Sufian denied the allegations. He said Hassan had started the argument when he (Sufian) asked him to cancel the order because he noticed ants in the cauldron.

He said while he had not eaten the rice, he had agreed to pay for it because Hassan refused to cancel the order. He said when he called the food sub-standard, Hassan summoned the men who threatened to beat him. He said he then called his own men.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2013.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ