Case against hotel for providing rat-infested, sub-standard food packets to police personnel

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The police personnel who were deployed for bandobast duty during the bandh on Tuesday were shocked when they found that the food packets that they received in the breakfast contained a dead rat.

The matter came to light when a police constable attached to Yeshwantpur Traffic Police Station found a dead rat in his "rice bhath" food packet.

Panicked, he immediately alerted his colleagues around and also other officials on their WhatsApp group in order to prevent them from consuming the rat-infested food.

All the food packets were soon discarded. According to the sources, there were around 180 food packets distributed to policemen on duty. Bengaluru Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic, MN Anucheth said that an inquiry has been initiated into the matter.

Later in the day he assured to file a criminal case against the food distributor. Thousands of policemen have been deployed to maintain law and order and traffic in the city due to the bandh call given by various organisations over the Cauvery dispute.

The policemen deployed under Yeshwanthpur Police Station limits were given food packets early morning on Tuesday in which the dead rat was found.

"During the investigation, it was found that a private hotel was asked to prepare the food for 180 personnel of traffic and law and order police personnel. It was distributed at 7:30 am. When the constable found the rat, he immediately alerted others regarding this. After seeing it, nobody consumed the food.

"We are now filing a criminal case against the hotel and disciplinary action will be taken against the traffic inspector," Anucheth said.

The joint commissioner also said that each personnel on such duty are usually given Rs 200 per day for food. However it is a matter of concern when such food is provided to anyone.

It may be recalled that a day before this incident, Vidyaranyapura Police had registered a case against the manager of a hotel on Hesaraghatta Main Road for allegedly supplying substandard food to the police personnel who were on bandobast duty for Ganesh immersion procession in and around Yelahanka subdivision on Sunday.