Hotel staff attacked for delayed service, one killed

Enraged at the delay in serving food at a hotel in West Bengal's West Midnapore district, a group of tourists from Odisha attacked the hotel staff, killing one them and injuring four others. 35 people have been arrested, police said Tuesday.

"A bus of tourists from Odisha, who had come on a picnic in Belda, attacked the hotel staff following a heated argument late Monday night.. Anil Kar was killed in the fight while three others have been hospitalised with serious injuries," said an officer of Belda police station.

"We have arrested 35 people from the picnic party. The body of the victim has been sent for post-mortem," said the officer. The incident happened at Belda, which is some 160 km from Kolkata.

"The picnic party came late into the night to our hotel and demanded food. We were about to close but on their insistence, we agreed. Serving over 40 people at a time is not easy and naturally there was some delay," said Amit Kar, brother of the victim and also a hotel employee.

"Later they started abusing us for the delay which eventually led to a argument. Around 20 of them then attacked us. While my brother died on the spot, three of the staff are battling for their lives," added Amit.