Bengaluru Scuffle Misrepresented as Karnataka Man Beaten in Haryana for Speaking Kannada
A social media post (here, here, and here) featuring a photo of a group of people is being widely shared, claiming that a boy from Karnataka was beaten by locals in Haryana for speaking Kannada instead of Haryanvi. Let’s verify the accuracy of this claim.
Claim: Visuals show a Karnataka boy beaten by locals in Haryana for speaking in Kannada instead of Haryanvi.
Fact: The incident occurred in Bengaluru, Karnataka, not Haryana. A scuffle broke out at Gabru Bistro & Café on 02 February 2024, between a food delivery agent and restaurant staff over a delay in service. The delivery agent claimed he was attacked after asking the staff to speak in Kannada, while the restaurant owner alleged he was abusive. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
First, we searched the internet using relevant keywords but couldn’t find any reports of such an incident in Haryana. We then conducted a reverse image search of the photo featured in the viral post, which led us to several national news articles (here, here, and here) and Kannada news articles (here and here) featuring the same visuals.
According to these reports, the incident occurred at Gabru Bistro & Café in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on 02 February 2024. A scuffle broke out between the restaurant staff and a food delivery agent over a delay in the food order. Both the delivery agent and the restaurant owner filed complaints against each other, resulting in two First Information Reports (FIRs) being registered at Soladevanahalli Police Station. According to the FIR (here) filed by the delivery agent, Naveen, he questioned a worker about the delay, but the worker allegedly abused him in another language. When Naveen asked him to speak in Kannada, he was allegedly attacked by the worker and other hotel staff. Naveen also claimed that he was taken to an area without CCTV cameras, where he was severely beaten before being rescued by other delivery agents.
However, the restaurant owner, Jatin Gupta, alleged in his complaint (here) that Naveen abused the hotel staff over the delay, manhandled a staff member named Abid, and threatened to kill him and vandalise the restaurant. The Soladevanahalli police told The Times of India that they were investigating the matter. We also contacted the Soladevanahalli police and will update the case status based on their response.
Furthermore, our investigation revealed that the viral post was initially shared by a satirical Instagram handle named “The Bindu Times”, which explicitly mentioned that the post was satire.
To sum it up, visuals of a scuffle at a Bengaluru restaurant over a food order delay are falsely shared as an incident of a Karnataka boy being beaten in Haryana for speaking Kannada.
(This story was originally published by factly.in, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
