Pune: The Lonikand police have registered a case of assault and criminal intimidation against three men for allegedly attacking an eatery owner from Phulgaon on the Pune–Solapur highway with wooden sticks after demanding free meals around 10.45 am on Saturday.According to police, all three accused are residents of Phulgaon. Police have issued notices to the three men, asking them to cooperate with the investigation.The 39-year-old eatery owner lodged a complaint stating that two friends of the trio had visited the eatery on Friday. After finishing their meal, they were served a bill by the staff. However, they were unhappy as they were not given free food and later informed the trio about the incident.On Saturday morning, the trio arrived at the eatery in a car, police said.“The trio were armed with wooden sticks and verbally abused the eatery owner. They demanded that he provide free meals to them and their friends in the future. When the owner refused, they assaulted him, and also kicked and punched him,” a police officer said.In a recent incident, ten people had assaulted a restaurant owner and his employee with sharp weapons around midnight after they refused to serve food as the outlet was closed. The duo suffered head and shoulder injuries in the attack with sharp weapons at the eatery in Wadgaon Khurd.
