Gun-toting guest causes panic at star hotel bar

The incident took place in the early hours of Thursday and the bar was practically empty, but sources say the staff members panicked at the sight of the weapon. 

The victim Harikrishna, 48, a resident of Lamech Avenue, immediately lodged a complaint with the Nungambakkam police station after the incident. He claimed that a real estate businessman named Sayed, 42, a resident of Choolaimedu who runs a business at Wallajabad, threatened him at gun point after they had a quarrel inside the bar. Sayed is believed to have left the hotel premises when Harikrishna went to the police. 

A few hours later, when a personal driver and a manager of Sayed went to collect Sayed’s BMW car from the hotel, its staff members alerted the police. Acting swiftly, the police detained the two men and filed a Community Service Register(CSR). They also collected the CCTV footage from the hotel to verify Harikrishna’s claims. 

A police source says that they don’t have an eyewitness for the case, and they expect that a compromise will be reached between the two parties. The Nungambakkam law and order inspector Chidambara Bharathi confirmed to DTNext that the car was picked up from the star hotel. “It was there in the star hotel and I brought it to the station. Both the complainant and the accused were completely drunk and nobody is clear about what really happened,” Chidambara Bharathi said.

However, a senior officer said that the matter will be investigated as they need to find out how a person armed with a gun managed to enter a five-star hotel that has multiple security checks at different entrances. Legally, carrying a fire arm in a public place is a criminal offence. Even licenced gun owners are supposed to keep them in their custody at home for their personal safety, added the officer.