Protest against 'partisan' enquiry into assault on hotelier

There is a twist in the case pertaining to police high-handedness on a restaurant owner in northern Bengaluru on November 9.  

The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike has alleged that Rajeev Shetty, the hotelier, had refused to follow the police directive to shut the restaurant by 11.30 pm on account of Tipu Jayanti that fell on November 10.  

On Wednesday, KRV activists protested outside the office of the assistant commissioner of police (JC Nagar subdivision) in RT Nagar, suggesting "one-sided" enquiry against the  ACP  who had caned Shetty for keeping the eatery open until late night.  

The hotelier "needlessly" argued with the ACP, Manjunath Babu, saying the government allows him to keep the eatery open until 1 am on all days of the week, a protester said.  

"On November 9, the eve of Tipu Jayanti, police  called a meeting with hotel associations and requested them to shut  down their establishments an hour before the stipulated time but Shetty didn't care.  His eatery usually remains open  until  2 am," he added and demanded that the police review the CCTV footage of the past two months.

"Caning the hotelier was wrong, but it's unfair to target the ACP who was just doing his duty," KRV leader Praveen Shetty said.