The Bengaluru police Monday registered a case against the owners and a senior executive of Rameshwaram Cafe after a 19-year-old customer filed a complaint alleging food adulteration, criminal conspiracy, and other related offences.
Rameshwaram Cafe owners Divya Raghavendra Rao and Raghavendra Rao and senior executive Sumanth Lakshminarayana were booked after Nikhil N Naresh filed the complaint with the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) police.
A police officer said they also issued notices to all three Monday to appear before them for questioning.
While the incident occurred on July 24 this year, Naresh said in his complaint that representatives of Rameshwaram Cafe tried to defame him for raising the issue.
According to the FIR, Naresh, who was at Terminal 1 of the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on July 24, bought Pongal from the Rameshwaram cafe. He said he saw a “superworm” in the food, and immediately alerted the cafe staff.
The staff offered to replace the dish, but he declined. Several customers reportedly recorded videos and photographs of the incident. Naresh then boarded his flight to Guwahati at 8.45 am.
While the video and photos of the “superworm” in the dish went viral, Naresh said he later came across media reports claiming Lakshminarayana had alleged that he demanded Rs 25 lakh, and threatened the owners of Rameshwaram Cafe.
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In his complaint, Naresh alleged that he was shocked to learn that he was being wrongfully framed and that false information about extortion was being circulated, damaging his reputation.
The police have registered a case under sections 61 (Criminal conspiracy), 123 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence), 217 (provide false information to the public), 228 (fabricating false evidence), 229 (intentionally giving or fabricating false evidence for use in a judicial proceeding), 274 (adulteration of food or drink), and 275 (Sale of noxious food or drink) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
They said they are investigating the case.