Firing at Kochi bar, two injured

Kochi: Two persons were injured when a group of four opened fire at employees of a bar at Kathrikadavu in Kochi late last night. Condition of one of them who suffered bullet injuries on abdomen is said to be serious.

Police said that the injured are Sujan Johnson and Akhilnath, both are bartenders. The miscreants escaped from the scene in a car after firing at the bar workers, police added.

The car is registered in Thodupuzha in the name of one Anwar Bilal.

Though the exact reason that led to the firing is yet to be ascertained, it is said that the dispute over serving liquor had led to the incident. The gang dropped in at the bar after midnight. The manager of the bar declined to give liquor to them citing the legal ban of serving liquor after 10 pm. Enraged by it, they began to beat him up. When the bartenders tried to rescue the manager from them, one of the gang members took out his pistol and fired at them, and escaped from the scene

.Police registered a case against four identifiable persons and started investigation

Nearly two weeks ago, in a similar incident at a Palakkad bar, the manager was injured in a firing by a gang.