The owner of Hard Rock Cafe, Sector 26, and his associates have been booked after a former security officer working there alleged that he was kidnapped and assaulted over his pending salary last month.
He also alleged that the accused made videos of him during the assault. It was only after his wife approached the police and the teams contacted the cafe that the accused left him near Kharar and fled. He alleged that Kant had links with senior police officials, politicians and gangsters, and had threatened to have him killed if he filed a complaint.
Harpreet Singh, a resident of Kharar who hails from Moga, alleged that he was taken to different locations in Zirakpur and Mohali on August 25 and 26, where he was beaten up and threatened. Because he feared for his and his family’s safety, singh said he returned home on August 30 but did not approach the police.
He alleged that when he later contacted Kant and other staff members, including manager Taranpreet Singh, to ask when he could resume work, they stopped responding to his calls. He had been working as a personal security officer at the cafe for nearly 10 months, according to Singh. He alleged that the cafe owed him ₹ 1 lakh as salary for four months. But after a fight on August 14, the owner Vijay Kant and the management sent him home for a few days. Singh alleged that Kant called him on August 24 and asked him to resume duty. The next day, around 10.30 pm, he reached the cafe and was asked to wait in the owner’s room. He alleged that Kant arrived with around 10 bouncers, threatened him and then took him to a flat in Zirakpur and later to Sector 88, Mohali, where he was assaulted.
A case under Sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 127(2) (wrongful confinement), 140(3) (kidnapping), 351(3) (aggravated criminal intimidation) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered against the cafe owner and others.
