The manager of a Gurugram restaurant was arrested a day after visuals surfaced on social media showing five customers bleeding from their mouth after they allegedly consumed mouth fresheners, officials said on Tuesday.
The initial investigation revealed that five friends, who went to Laforestta, the cafe-cum-restaurant in Sector 90, got severe cuts in their mouths and started vomiting after having a mouth freshener which allegedly had dry ice mixed in it.
The accused, identified as Gagandeep, was arrested shortly after a police team, accompanied by the Rapid Action Force, arrived at the restaurant for a raid in relation to the food poisoning case.
"We have arrested the 30-year-old manager of the cafe, Gagandeep, who is a resident of Delhi and the restaurant owner, Amritpal Singh, is currently on the run," a police official said.
The official added that the restaurant was found locked at all entry and exit points when a police team visited there.
"In the preliminary interrogation, the arrested manager said it was due to negligence by the restaurant staff that a packet of mouth freshener and dry ice got mixed mistakenly. He said there was no ill-intention towards the guests and what happened was unfortunate," the official said.
Meanwhile, all the five customers who had consumed the mouth freshener and fell sick were discharged from the hospital late last night. Presently, their conditions are reported to be stable.
Gurugram Police have registered a case under Section 328 and Section 120 B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on a complaint filed by one of the five customers who was hospitalised.
An investigation is underway to determine the supplier of the mouth freshener and the composition of the substance that caused the adverse reactions.
