Mumbai, Apr 23 (PTI) Two constables have been suspended for allegedly beating up an employee of a restaurant in south Mumbai after he refused to pay them bribe, an official said on Tuesday.

Constables Satyanarayan Sambhaji Shinde and Sandeep Maruti Koli allegedly barged into the restaurant in Girgaon around midnight on April 8, he said.

Both the constables are attached to LT Marg police station.

As per the preliminary investigation, they had asked a street cobbler to collect `hafta’ (bribe) from local businesses, including pan vendors and restaurants. On April 7, when the cobbler visited the hotel to collect Rs 100, the employees refused to pay.

The two policemen visited the hotel around the midnight of April 8, forced the staff to open the shutter and took them to the police station for paying `fine’. When the staff questioned them, Shinde and Koli allegedly assaulted Ali Akbar Sharif Shaikh, one of the employees, with a baton.

After the initial inquiry, both the constables were suspended and further probe was on, the official said.

No First Information Report, however, has been registered yet, he said. PTI ZA KRK