The outlet has been shut since mid-February. Pics/Shadab Khan

A central landmark of Linking Road, the KFC in Bandra has gone from the fire into the frying pan — it has been forced to keep its shutter down since mid-February after the person who had leased out part of the premises to the fast food chain restaurant came on State Bank of India's defaulter list. The ground-plus-two outlet, which opened in 2007, has two rentors — Ashok Bhatia, who owns the ground and first floors, and Bashirali Keswani, who owns the second floor. According to Bhatia, Keswani, who has rented out one of the two galas on the second floor to KFC, had mortgaged the property as a guarantee against a loan taken by his friend. “When the friend defaulted on payment of Rs 39.07 crore to the SBI, the bank turned towards the guarantor to recover the dues. On February 15, officials sealed the two galas on the second floor," said Bhatia.