ACP beats hotelier for keeping eatery open at midnight

A senior police officer repeatedly caned  the owner of a  restaurant  for keeping  the establishment open "beyond the stipulated deadline".

The November 9  incident, whose CCTV footage has gone viral, has incensed hoteliers in the city who argue the  officer was  forcing the hotel to close at midnight, an hour before the stipulated deadline.  

The officer in  question is  Manjunath Babu, ACP (JC Nagar).  On the receiving end of  his fury was Rajeev Shetty, the owner of  Shetty Lunch Home on  Dinnur Main Road in RT Nagar.  

The video shows  the ACP barging into the restaurant and caning Shetty, who apologises to the officer, but he doesn't relent.  

Shetty said he felt humiliated as he was caned before his staff and customers. He said the officer could have taken action against him as per the law, instead of caning him.

"It's true my restaurant was open until midnight, but the officer did not even listen to what I was saying,"  Shetty told DH.  

After the incident,  Shetty approached the president of the Bruhat Bangalore Hotels' Association, Chandrashekar Hebbar, who then brought the matter to the notice of the Police Commissioner, T Suneel Kumar.

He continued:  "As per the government directive, bars and restaurants have to close by 11.30 pm on  weekdays whereas  restaurants  can  remain open  until 1 am  on all  days of the week. Bars  can remain until 1 am on weekends.

"November 9 was a Thursday. Being an ACP, he should know."  

The ACP defended his actions, saying  his men had served several notices on the restaurant, but he (Shetty) never followed them. "That day, when our men went to his restaurant around midnight, about five customers were still around," Babu told DH.

He said he then decided to visit the restaurant.  "When I asked the owner about the deadline, he spoke to me in filthy language," Babu added.