7 social workers among 9 held over Karachi Bakery brawl

Seven self-styled social workers are among nine men arrested for barging into Karachi Bakery in Indiranagar and threatening the staff to remove ‘Karachi’ from the signboard. They have been booked for rioting and criminal breach of trust.

Police identified them as Babaji, Srihari, Praveen, Sreeyappa, Shivakumar, Gunashekar, Lakshman, Sanjay and Naveen, all residents of Halasuru and the surrounding areas. Police tracked them down after reviewing the CCTV footage of the bakery.

The men had barged into the bakery on Friday and demanded to know why the brand was named after the Pakistani city and who the owner was. They did not, however, damage the bakery property.

The bakery staff tried to reason with the gang, saying the brand is owned by a Hindu. They later covered the word “Karachi” from the signboard and even hoisted the national flag in order to pacify the gang.

Police rushed to the spot after one of the staffers alerted them. Seeing them, the men took to their heels.

Barring two, all other suspects claim to be “social workers” but are not affiliated to any organisation. They justified their actions, saying they were “patriots” protesting over the Pulwama attack.

‘Don’t do moral policing’

Police scolded them for indulging in moral policing and taking the law into their own hands. They are investigating if more people were involved. Police have also put up pickets near the bakery and other sensitive areas to avert such instances.