After the shocking incident on Sunday in which a tourist family was allegedly attacked with swords and knives in a resort in Goaโs famous Anjuna, the resort management has released a statement narrating the series of events that led to the violence.
"The recent unfortunate events and subsequent media reports have necessitated this statement by Spazio Leisure Resort Management," the resort management said.
๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐: ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
"At the onset, the hotel management would like to make it clear that we condemn any and all kinds of violence, verbal and physical abuse. We support the statement made by our honorable Chief Minister, Dr. Pramod Sawant, that tourists and locals must not take the law in their own hands and must dial the police for any assistance needed," it further added.
The management said that they are a 12 year old family friendly resort owned and run by a Goan family, with impeccable track record in customer service, safety and security of their guests, substantiated by excellent guest reviews, multiple recognitions and many repeat guests over the years.
๐๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ป๐ผ ๐๐บ๐ผ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐: ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐
"Mr. Ashwani Kumar and members of his group were found violating the hotel NO SMOKING policy (Smoking Hookah) by the swimming pool which is a public area. The said guests were requested by the hotel staff multiple times to stop smoking hookah by the pool, upon which the said guests got verbally abusive using derogatory expletives with the hotel staff," the management added.
The management said that one of the guests even manhandled a hotel staff member by pushing him around and threatened that he leave the hotel immediately, else they want a full refund for spoiling their holiday mood. In order to avoid further disturbance to other guests at their hotel, the hotel supervisor asked the staff member to remain off duty for a said period of time. Later in the evening, the staff member along with his brother returned to the hotel site to collect his mobile charger that he had forgotten and remained on the public road outside the hotel, as per management's statement.
'๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ, ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ'
"Mr. Ashwani Kumar was then seen on the CCTV footage cameras heading out to the public road and upon seeing the hotel staff member, started an argument with the staff member and his brother, clicking their photograph which was unwarranted and verbally abusing the boys using derogatory expletives at the top of his voice which attracted the attention of his group members, who all at once came running to the public road from inside the hotel," the statement read.
The management said that Jatin Sharma forcefully pushed the hotel staff member, as clearly seen on the CCTV footage secured from the hotel by the Anjuna Police and Ashwani Kumar's group members joined in and attacked the hotel staff member. Eye witnesses on the public road witnessed Jatin Sharma and his group thrashing the hotel staff member on the roadside gutter, by hitting him with stones and punches.
๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ: ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
"On witnessing this brutality, many of our hotel staff members and locals intervened to stop the fight by pulling all the parties away, but to no avail. Mr. Jatin Sharma is also seen in one clip of the CCTV footage, removing his gold chain from around his neck and handing it over to his mother before heading out to join the fight again. Unfortunately, this fight ended in both parties being injured. As per video evidence which has been submitted to the Anjuna Police and eye witnesses there were no swords and no local gangs that gathered outside the hotel on the public road, as claimed in media," the statement said.
Ashwani Kumar and his group's claim that the management and staff of Spazio Leisure Resort were uncooperative and did not assist them thereafter and left them high and dry was untrue, the management said, adding that "It was infact the management and staff of Spazio Leisure Resort that were intervening at all stages to stop this argument over NO Smoking hotel policy to blow up into full fledged fight, by first taking the crucial step of requesting the staff member to go off duty for a said period".
