Popcorn vendor arrested for 'spitting into cooking oil'

A vendor at the Lalbagh Botanical Garden was arrested for “spitting” into the cooking oil he used to make popcorn, police said.

The vendor, however, told the police that the allegation was not true and that he was only tearing open the pouch with his teeth.

The arrested is Navaz Pasha, 21, a resident of Someshwara Nagar, Jayanagar 1st Block. Constable Mallinath from the Siddapura police station, who was on patrol duty in Lalbagh on Saturday morning, noticed a crowd near the Glass House.

He found people had surrounded the popcorn vendor and were scolding him for spitting a few times into the oil. Mallinath detained Pasha and alerted his seniors. An additional force was sent to the spot to maintain pace. A popcorn-making machine, cooking oil and popcorn were seized.

Police said that since Pasha’s act (of cutting the pouch with his teeth) was unhygienic, they took up a suo moto case and arrested him.