Three Assam food stall workers assaulted in Bengaluru over 'spicy' noodles

Three people from Assam who run a roadside fast-food stall near Bengaluru's Electronic City were beaten up by a group of men who complained that the noodles they had been served were too spicy, according to police accounts reported by India Today and NDTV.

The incident took place on the night of Thursday, October 29, at Doddathoguru in south Bengaluru. Videos of the assault, shot on mobile phones by people nearby, have been circulating on social media.

What happened at the stall

The victims have been identified as Deepak Thapa, Hema and Lakshmi Lama, all natives of Assam. According to the reports, three men who had come to the stall as customers ordered noodles and then started an argument with the staff, saying the dish was too spicy. The men were allegedly under the influence of alcohol.

The argument quickly turned violent. The three workers were allegedly pushed to the ground, kicked and repeatedly hit. A young man who tried to intervene and pull the attackers away was also chased and assaulted, the reports said.

One clip, recorded by a bystander, shows a man being punched and kicked while he lies on the ground. When police reached the spot, the woman who runs the stall showed officers the injuries that she and another worker had suffered, India Today reported.

Police case

The accused have been identified as Nagaraj, Chandru and Devaraj, who are from Karnataka's Chamarajanagar district, according to NDTV. A case has been registered at the Electronic City police station and an investigation is under way.

Accounts differed on whether the men are in custody. Local outlet BLR Today reported that the three had been arrested, but later reports on Sunday by News9 Live and News18 said no arrests had been made so far. According to those reports, the victims went to the Electronic City police station themselves to lodge the complaint, and police have begun searching for the accused, examining the viral videos and recording statements from local residents. Bengaluru police had not issued a public statement on arrests at the time of writing. The injured workers' current condition was also not known.

A familiar worry for NE workers

Large numbers of young people from Assam and the rest of the North East work in Bengaluru's food, retail and service sectors, many of them running or staffing small eateries like this one. Attacks on workers from the region in big cities have repeatedly drawn concern back home.

NEInsider will update this story when the police confirm arrests or the condition of the injured.