Pramesh S Jain
Five months after,a fresh controversy has erupted for the popular Rameshwaram Café after a customer alleged that he found an insect in the pongal served to him at the Kempegowda International Airport outlet.
The customer has further accused the cafe owners of threatening him when he raised the issue.While the cafe had already filed a case earlier,the customer has now filed a counter-complaint.
Based on a complaint filed by Nikhil N,a city based realtor,the Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) police have registered an FIR against cafe owners Raghavendra Rao,his wife Divya Raghavendra Rao,and senior executive Sumanth Lakshminarayan.
They have been booked for selling harmful food,giving false information,criminal conspiracy,and issuing threats.
Police have also issued notices to all three,directing them to appear for inquiry on Monday.
According to the complaint,Nikhil N,a resident of Marathahalli,visited the café’s Terminal-1 outlet on July 24,where he allegedly found an insect in the pongal served to him.
Although the staff reportedly agreed to replace the dish, Nikhil refused because he had a flight to catch.The incident was recorded by other customers,and photographs of the contaminated pongal were taken,the complaint states.
However,even before the customer filed his complaint, the case had taken a twist.The next day,Sumanth Lakshminarayan,the café’s operations head,lodged a complaint at the Vyalikaval police station accusing the group of customers of blackmail and extortion,alleging that they had demanded Rs.25 lakh.
