In the first week of September, constable R D Sutar had dinner at Hotel Sunder Vilas, Dharavi along with some friends, but when it came to footing the bill of Rs 200, he refused. However, when the hotelier, Ram Pujari, and the waiter, Damodar Shetty, insisted, Sutar paid up, but also allegedly threatened Pujari and Shetty.

On September 18, as Pujari and Shetty were having lunch in another hotel nearby, the constable reportdly dragged them to Dharavi station, beat them up and detained them till the next morning. Pujari is still convalescing with serious injuries at Matalaxmi Nursing Home. The secretary of Association of Hotels and Restaurants (AHAR) led a delegation to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, zone-VIII, Sadanand Date, and lodged a complaint againstSutar and another constable Utekar involved in the incident.

Date initiated a probe into the incident and submitted a report to the Mendonca on Thursday. The report clearly indicts Sutar, said a police officer, following which Mendonca issued suspension orders against Sutar.