24 year-old football enthusiast assaulted in Pune over tiff on World Cup match

Pune: Football fever is catching up in the city as the FIFA world cup is going on, but the football craze can have some adverse effects also. A 24-year-old football enthusiast learned it the hard way. The youth was beaten up by three persons in a restaurant and bar when he told them that they were interrupting his view when he was watching a match.
The incident took place at 10.45 pm at Akash bar and restaurant on Satara Road on Saturday. The complainant, Swapnil Haval (24) is a resident of Maharshinagar and was in the bar watching the World Cup game between Columbia and Greece. Places like these are crowded during peak hours and with World Cup games, most of the tables were occupied. According to Swapnil, three men beat him up and also snatched his chain worth Rs. 50,000.
Swapnil said, “I was watching the game when the waiter came in front of me, thus blocking my view of the TV. So I told him to move. Those men sitting on the table thought this was disrespectful of me and hence started abusing me. This did not end there. Soon the three men were all over me,” said Swapnil who works in a private company.
A complaint has been registered in the Swargate police station and assistant police inspector S. A. Kenjale who is investigating the case said, “We got a call from the bar owner talking about the incident. So we have taken the CCTV footage of that night and know that those three people rode a white Activa. We have not identified those people yet.”