Kanta Prasad, the owner of popular eatery Baba Ka Dhaba' in south Delhi's Malviya Nagar, has filed a complaint against Instagram influencer Gaurav Wasan for misappropriation of funds, police said on Sunday. Prasad (80) had shot to fame after a video of him tearfully recounting the desperation of the months since the lockdown was shared widely across social media platforms recently.
Ironically, Prasad's despair had come to light when Wasan captured the eatery owner breaking down as he talked about his struggles in a video shared on the YouTuber's social media account. In his complaint to police, Prasad said Wasan shot his video and posted it online and convinced the public on social media to donate money to the eatery onwer.
He futher alleged that Wasan "intentionally and deliberately shared only his and his family/friends bank details and mobile numbers with the donors and collected huge amount of donation through different mode of payments i.e bank account/wallets without providing any information to the complainant". The owner of the food joint also accused the YouTuber of not providing details of the financial transactions to him.
We received the complaint yesterday at the Malviya Nagar Police Station and the matter is being probed. No FIR has been registered yet in the case, Atul Kumar Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), said.
After the video went viral, Baba ka Dhaba was the cynosure of many eyes across the country, including celebs from showbiz who posted appeals asking people to go there and get themselves a meal. The video had shown Kanta Prasad break down as the couple could not even sell a plate of chappatis and matar paneer. "None are ready to eat them," whimpered Prasad, complaining that through the day they cannot even sell out 500 gm of "daal or sabzi".
A day after the heartbreaking video, #Babakadhaba started to trend on Twitter and the food joint was flooded with more customers than it had seen in 30 years of being in business. Several Bollywood stars had also urged people to help the couple revive their establishment.