Real or planted? Rage over roach in Indira Canteen food

Bengaluru: The state government's favourite project, Indira Canteen, is mired in a controversy even before all the branches could be opened in all the 198 wards of the city. In a video that has gone viral, a cockroach and an insect are seen in the food served at one of the canteens in the city.

But the BBMP, instead of trying to address the problem and questioning the food caterers, has filed an FIR at the Kamakshipalya police station against four young whistleblowers who are responsible for the video. 

The video, which runs for 1.38 minutes and shot at Kottigepalya Indira Canteen, clearly shows a cockroach and what appears to be a fly. One youngster has shot the video, while three others narrate the incident and blame the government for failure to provide hygienic food.

A man in khakis and another, who is seen walking out of the canteen with an angry face, says, "The food served is stale and unhygienic. Cockroach and insects were found in the food." A man sporting a blue shirt says, "Instead of serving food with cockroaches and insects, it is better they close these canteens down.”

The video, which might have been shot on Thursday or Friday, was first posted on "Fight for Right" Facebook page at 7.15 am on Saturday.  While a dead cockroach can be seen in a rice dish, a dead insect is spotted in the upma. 

Mayor Sampath Raj told Deccan Chronicle, "Our officials filed a police complaint to know the truth and based on that an FIR was registered. We have shared the footage with the police officials."

He said that he too saw the video, but raised doubts over its authenticity. "According to me, the video is not genuine. People who cannot digest the success of Indira Canteen could have brought a cockroach and an insect and put them in the food, just to tarnish our good work."

Asked why the officials were in a hurry to file a police complaint even before investigating what went wrong, Mr Raj said that the police are the competitive authority to find out whether it was the fault of the BBMP or the youth who shot the video.

The Kamakshipalya police have registered the complaint against the four people, including one Hemanth Kumar, a resident of Malagala. The BBMP complaint states that the four men tried to malign the image of Indira Canteen by misrepresenting the facts on social media platforms.