06 April,2009 10:36 AM IST | | Rita Ghose
An argument over a cucumber led to a riot-like situation in Malvani, Malad yesterday evening. Rakesh Pradhan (18) and his friend Nilesh Pawar went to buy cucumber at a stall after a game of cricket when Tulsi Yadav (55), a banker and an acquaintance of the friends, passed a snide remark.
According to Rakesh, Yadav told the cucumber seller not to give a kakdi to Nilesh, who is handicapped. "Langde ko kakdi mat do," said Yadav. This led to an altercation between the three and soon, resulted in a riot-like situation with 20 people joining the fight. A police inspector from Malvani police station said, "We have arrested 16 people. While two others are absconding, two of the injured are admitted to the Bhagwati Hospital."
Yadav, however, defended himself saying that he intervened because the boys did not pay money to the cucumber seller. He told the police, "I went to resolve the matter, but Nilesh was drunk and the situation got out of hand."
An eyewitness from the locality who preferred to remain anonymous said, "The fight had a communal flavour and hence, went out of hand."
u00a0
