Rajakumar Rajalingam, Restaurant Owner, Kills Rat In Front Of Health Inspectors

Restaurant Owner Kills Rat In Front Of Health Inspectors

The proprietor of an Indian restaurant in south London recently went to extreme measures to rid the premises of vermin during a routine health inspection by local authorities. Unfortunately for those inspectors, that involving killing a rat and leaving it in a pool of blood -- right in front of them.

Following the incident, Rajakumar Rajalingam of New Chutney Express in Tooting was unsurprisingly slapped with a roughly $32,100 (£20,000) fine last week after pleading guilty to series of food safety and trading standards offences.

The charges stemmed not only from the rat-killing incident, but from the shop's appalling hygiene conditions. The Independent writes that the officers found even more rodents, as well as their droppings -- visible in plain sight -- in food preparation areas and shelves. Chicken bones were found gnawed, likely the work of vermin that had entered the restaurant through an uncovered drain under a sink.

Rajalingam was also found guilty of selling counterfeit Jacob's Creek wine at a nearby shop he also owned and fined about $8,000 (£5,000); he'd previously been nabbed for selling counterfeit Champagne in 2007.

At Rajalingam's sentencing, a judge called his actions "disgraceful" and said he should be “heartily ashamed of himself."

Photo by Flickr user Kake Pugh.

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