Restaurant staffer kills manager in Mumbai

A 24-year-old kitchen assistant killed the manager of an Udupi restaurant in Ghatkopar by slitting his throat over some monetary dispute in the wee hours of Thursday.

The accused, Guddu Pervez Gupta, slit the throat of Ananth Pujari (30) with a knife when he was asleep and fled from the spot. The Pant Nagar police have launched a manhunt to nab the accused.

According to the police, the incident took place between 2.30am and 3 am when Pujari was asleep on a bench in the restaurant.

“What we have come to know from the staffers of the restaurant is that Gupta had asked for his one month salary of Rs5,500 from the manager as he wanted to visit his native place in Uttar Pradesh. Pujari had told him that he was waiting for the restaurant owner’s permission to hand over the salary and this had annoyed Gupta,” said a senior police officer.

“Gupta woke up in the night and then pulled out the knife which he used in the juice section of the restaurant to cut fruits and attacked the deceased. He slit his throat and fled,” he added. Pujari was rushed to the Rajawadi Hospital, but he was declared brought dead by the doctors.