2 hotel bouncers booked for thrashing lensmen

Mumbai: Bouncers of Bastian Hotel went berserk and thrashed the paparazzi seconds after actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra left the place late on Thursday night.

The bouncers thrashed press photographers and two of them identified as Narendra Kunchikurve (29) and Ashutosh Kadar (23) were arrested by the Khar police and subsequently released on bail when produced in a local court.

The Khar police has registered a case and is yet to ascertain the reason behind the attack. Meanwhile, the hotel has claimed that the bouncers were personnel of Tough Security and has discontinued the firm’s services.

The incident occurred around 11pm outside Bastian hotel located on Linking Road, Bandra (west).

The two accused bouncers thrashed two photographers black and blue as the latter clicked pictures despite being requested not to. The photographers claimed that they tried contacting the police helpline but did not get any response. The entire incident was captured on cameras with the footage showing the two bouncers beating the photographers mercilessly.

Bastian hotel released a statement that services of the security agency to which the bouncers belonged have been terminated following the incident.

“We are shocked and saddened by the incident that took place outside Bastian last night. During last night’s incident, the people involved were personnel of Tough Security who is hired for Bastian via external vendors, as is the practice. We do not want to take the risk of this happening again and we personally apologise to the media involved. We are gathering information to offer to take care of all medical bills that may have resulted due to this incident,” the statement read.

The police is now recording statements of all concerned. An officer from Khar police station said, “Two of the wanted bouncers of the restaurant accused of beating photographers have been arrested. They targeted Robin Chawla and others with their metal bracelets. Further probe is underway.