Dead cockroach found in fried rice at Elante mall: Here's what food court's owner says

In a bizarre incident that took place on Friday, a customer of the food court at Chandigarh's Nexus Elante Mall allegedly spotted a cockroach in his meal. After calling the police to the place, Anil Kumar, a resident of Mauli Complex, claimed he had arrived to have a meal with his wife and sister. He shocked himself by discovering a cockroach in his fried rice after ordering it from "Ni Hao," a Chinese restaurant in the mall's food court.

He claimed that the restaurant employees called it an onion when he showed it to them, which is what made him call the police.

In his police report, Kumar sought action against the restaurant and the mall administration. Ayaan Foods is the owner of the Elante food court and actively manages the restaurant.

Puneet Gupta, the owner of Ayaan Foods, meanwhile, claimed that the mall management, with whom he had an earlier April rent dispute, committed an act of sabotage. A complaint was also filed against the mall management.

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According to Gupta, the claimed customer worked at the mall and was even overheard talking with a few other staff members before the event.

"In the over nine years since we are running the food court, we have never had such complaints. Yet, in the last two months, two incidents have cropped up. This started after dispute over the lease for the food court between us and the mall and the matter also went to court. The court has asked that the status quo be maintained, which is why these acts of sabotage are being executed," he said.

In their statement, Nexus Elante Mall said, "We were made aware of the regrettable incident which happened at the ‘Ni Hao’ kiosk at the food court on our premises managed by Ayaan Foods. This is the second incident".

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On June 14, a lizard was discovered in a plate of cholle bhature that a customer had bought from Sagar Ratna, another restaurant in the food court. The store had stated that the lizard had fallen from the food court's ceiling. However, Gupta had stated that the lizard was discovered beneath the bhatura, indicating that it had already been spotted at the eatery.

Officials from the health department, however, refused to comment on the course of events following the initial occurrence.