Farzi Cafe, where Mohammed Nalapad Haris and friends allegedly assaulted Vidvat L., hosted the sons of several politicians and, even, the son of a prominent actor in Bengaluru on Saturday night, sources said.
Mohammed Nalapad’s lawyer Md. Usman alleged the complaint was “selectively registered” against a few people, including his client, while the sons of other bigwigs were let off. He mentioned the son of Bengaluru BJP MP, P.C. Mohan.
Talking to The Hindu , Mr. Mohan said that his son was at the cafe when the incident happened but wasn’t part of the assault. “My son had no links to Mohammed Nalapad or the victim. Moh a mmed Nalapad’s lawyer is trying to tarnish the reputation of many families,” he said and added that singling out his son was politically-motivated.
Two independent sources confirmed to The Hindu that a son of a State Cabinet Minister; a city councillor, who is the son of another MLA from the city; children of two Kannada actors, and the son of a former BJP Minister from north Karnataka were all present at the cafe when the incident happened. However, many people, including the police, maintain that their visit to the cafe at the same time was a “coincidence”.
Chandragupta, DCP (Central), said that they had got the CCTV footage at Farzi Cafe which showed the incident. “We are yet to examine the witnesses. We will call them and record their statements eventually,” he said. Meanwhile, the upmarket cafe remained closed on Monday.