Baba Ka Dhaba owner released from hospital, levels allegations against YouTubers

Baba ka Dhaba owner, Kanta Prasad, has been discharged from Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital after his condition improved, a report said on Friday. Kanta Prasad was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital on June 18 after police said he overdosed on alcohol and sleeping pills. They said they were trying to find out whether the incident was an accident or the Baba ka Dhaba owner tried to take his life.

The Indian Express cited Atul Kumar Thakur, the deputy commissioner of police of South District, as saying that the condition of the 81-year-old is stable and that he is back home. The newspaper reported that the Baba ka Dhaba owner has recorded his statement before the police, alleging that several YouTubers called him to pressure him to apologise to Gaurav Wasan and he fell into depression after that. The newspaper said that no FIR has been filed so far in the matter and that the police are probing the role of the alleged YouTubers.

Also read | 'Baba ka Dhaba' row ends, YouTuber Gaurav Wasan says 'all is well'

Last week, the police said his family found Prasad unconscious at the eatery and took him to a nearby private hospital, which referred him to Safdarjung Hospital. Prasad’s son Karan alleged that his father was depressed because some people, including a few YouTubers, were “pressuring him to withdraw the cheating case and reach a compromise with Wasan.”

“My father was being constantly asked to withdraw the case and patch up with Wasan. It was the main reason behind my father’s depression. He was not telling us anything about it, but we could see he was under pressure,” Karan said but did not specify whom he was speaking about.

Also read | Baba ka Dhaba row: Case of cheating filed against YouTube ‘influencer’

Prasad and his dhaba shot to fame overnight in October last year after YouTuber, Gaurav Wasan, shared a video showing Prasad in tears. The Baba Ka Dhaba owner told him he was struggling to make ends meet as business dried up during the coronavirus pandemic. The video went viral and led to thousands of people making a beeline to his eatery in south Delhi's Malviya Nagar and many even donated money. He later opened a new restaurant, which was shut in February due to a shortage of business.

The octogenarian also filed a cheating case against Gaurav Wasan after accusing him of allegedly siphoning off donations, a charge that the YouTuber later refuted. Last week, the two posed for photographs at his dhaba and claimed all was well.