Police have arrested the manager of a Gurgaon restaurant after it served dry ice to a group of diners as mouth fresheners.

Five diners were hospitalised after they started vomiting and even their mouths started bleeding.

The manager was identified as 30-year-old Gagandeep Singh.

He was working as the manager of Laforestta Cafe in Sector 90 for the past three months, media reports said.

“Police received information from Aarvy Hospital Sector-90 regarding the admission of Neha Sabharwal, Manika Goenka, Deepak Arora, Pritika Rustagi, and Himani due to consumption of a ‘mouth freshener’ or dry ice offered by the restaurant staff after dining. Upon investigation, the police found that the packet given to them by the restaurant staff contained dry ice with corrosive chemicals, resulting in discomfort and health issues,” Inspector Sudhir Kumar, Gurgaon Police spokesperson, told The Indian Express.

“Despite their deteriorating condition, the restaurant staff did not provide assistance, prompting them to contact the police,” he said.

Following the incident, a First Information Report has been registered under Indian Penal Code sections 328 (Causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit and offence) and 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy).

Three people have been discharged from hospital.

A video of the incident has gone viral in which some of the people could be seen screaming in pain.

What is dry news?

Dry ice colloquially means the solid form of carbon dioxide ( (s)). It is commonly used for temporary refrigeration as CO2 does not have a liquid state at normal atmospheric pressure and sublimes directly from the solid state to the gas state.

It is used primarily as a cooling agent, but is also used in fog machines at theatres for dramatic effects.