The Malad police have filed an FIR against the manager, a waiter, and several others connected with the Hope and Shine Lounge Hotel for allegedly contaminating food or drink intended for sale. The complaint arose on Friday after a customer discovered a cockroach in his cold coffee. The customer, Pratik Rawat, 25, lodged a complaint with the police, leading to the FIR being filed under sections 125 (acts endangering life or safety of others), 274 (adulteration of food or drink intended for sale), 275 (sale of noxious food or drink), and 3 (5) (general explanations) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
According to the police report, Rawat, a resident of Lokhandwala, Andheri West, who runs an event management company, visited the Hope and Shine Lounge on August 30 at 9:30 p.m. with a friend. They ordered two cold coffees. Finding the coffee bitter, they asked a waiter to add sugar. The waiter took the glasses to the bar counter, added sugar, and returned the coffee to Rawat and his friend.
While drinking the coffee through a straw, Rawat noticed something unusual in his glass and discovered a cockroach as he neared the end. He immediately photographed the glass, called the waiter over, and pointed out the cockroach. The lounge's owner soon approached Rawat, took the glass, and led Rawat and his friend to the kitchen. The owner showed them the mesh of the shaker used for making the cold coffee, attempting to prove that the cockroach could not have passed through it. He even placed the cockroach on the mesh, ran water over it, and claimed it couldn't have entered this way. He then discarded the cockroach into the basin and washed it away. Rawat remarked, "I have filed a complaint with the Malad Police and plan to write to the P North Department of the Municipality. I visited the BMC office, but it was closed over the weekend. The hotel manager was extremely rude even after we found the cockroach in the coffee. Moreover, the hotel operates an illegal hookah service and lacks proper safety and hygiene measures."