Feel-good Baba ka Dhaba tale takes unsavoury turn

What began as a feel-good story about the internet and its social media Samaritans coming out to support a small local business has turned into a criminal investigation -- with a dash of alleged financial irregularity, and ostensibly a pinch of social media rivalry.

Delhi Police on Monday began its probe into a case of alleged misappropriation of funds filed against a YouTube “influencer” by an elderly man who runs a roadside eatery, Baba ka Dhaba.

The restaurant, run by Kanta Prasad, shot to fame last month after the influencer, Gaurav Wasan, highlighted how Prasad may run out business because his customers are staying away due to the coronavirus disease.

The 11-minute-long YouTube video blog, posted on October 7, detailed how Prasad and his wife, Badami Devi, both apparently in their eighties, were in dire straits outside their tiny eatery in Malviya Nagar.

Wasan’s video on his YouTube page was widely circulated, leading to 3 million views and drawing thousands of Delhi residents, and some celebrities, to Prasad’s shop to buy food and take selfies.

A month later, the crowds outside Baba Ka Dhaba have vanished, and Prasad says that while large sums of money were collected for him from the public by Wasan, he is yet to get a single penny.

The charges were first made by a bunch of other users on YouTube, who made videos to allege that Wasan siphoned off the money and conned the elderly couple.

These videos were widely circulated, raking up millions of views.

One such YouTube blogger, who identified himself as Lakshay Chaudhary, said he had met fellow blogger Eluish Yadav and discussed the case. Both Yadav and Chaudhary made videos charging Wasan with misappropriation of funds.

Chaudhary said there were many bloggers who were scamming citizens and not handing the funds to people in need.

Delhi Police officers privy to the case bloggers who first made the charges against Wasan public seem to know each other and made the allegations against Wasan together. .

Wasan did not respond to calls and text messages seeking his response but released what he claimed were his bank statements to claim innocence.

Prasad filed a police complaint last week, accusing Wasan of cheating him. Delhi Police are yet to register a first Investigation report (FIR) in the case, but an officer privy to the details said they were likely to summon both Prasad and Wasan for questioning this week.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Atul Thakur said they are looking into Prasad’s allegations and counterclaims by Wasan, who has denied any wrongdoing.

In his complaint, Prasad alleged that Wasan shot a video of his stall Baba Ka Dhaba on October 7 after “inducing” him to promote his business as they were not making any money. Prasad said Wasan posted the video on his social media company account “Swad Official”, and convinced public through social media to donate money to the couple and help them in running the business.

Prasad contended that he not received any money from the donations collected, and alleged that Wasan and his associates used their own bank accounts to collect the money, which they have now pocketed.

When asked how much money was raised through donations, Prasad said he was not certain about the amount. Wasan did not respond to queries seeking a comment.

Wasan released a video on October 28 in which he denied all allegations. Wasan said that contrary to reports on social media, he received only around ₹3 lakh in his account.

Wasan said he had given the money to Prasad and also attached a clip, which showed him handing what appeared to be a cheque to Prasad.