FIR filed against Rameshwaram Cafe owners over unsafe food and cover-up, investigation underway

Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe is embroiled in a controversy after a customer at the Kempegowda International Airport reported unsafe food and alleged a cover-up.

Owners of the well-known Rameshwaram Cafe in Karnataka's Bengaluru are facing a police case over allegations ranging from serving unsafe food to attempting a cover-up, officials said on Monday.

The Bengaluru police have filed an FIR against the owners of Rameshwaram Cafe.(PTI)

The FIR was filed after a complaint by Nikhil N, who said he encountered a major hygiene lapse at the cafe's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) outlet, and was later falsely accused of trying to extort money, said a report by news agency PTI.

The complaint named the cafe's proprietor Raghavendra Rao, his wife Divya Raghavendra Rao, and senior manager Sumanth Lakshminarayan. The case was registered at the BIAL police station on November 29.

The episode dates back to July 24, when Nikhil was at Terminal 1 preparing to fly to Guwahati. He ordered ‘ven pongal’ and filter coffee at the cafe's airport counter. According to the FIR, he claims he discovered a worm in his food.

Nikhil said he alerted the staff immediately. They offered a replacement, but he declined since he had to rush for boarding. Other diners reportedly took pictures, and Nikhil maintained he simply left without causing a scene.

However, the next day he saw news reports saying the cafe had filed a police complaint accusing him of threatening their brand name and demanding ₹25 lakh.

Police summoned Nikhil and his friends based on the cafe's allegations. But Nikhil insisted he never asked for compensation or even a refund, adding that his flight boarding and airtime records proved he wasn’t even on the ground at the time the cafe claimed the threats were made.

Investigators later confirmed they found no evidence that he or his friends attempted blackmail or extortion, said the report.

Following this, Nikhil filed a counter-complaint, calling the incident a “grave food safety failure” and accusing the cafe of lodging a fabricated case to tarnish his image and intimidate him.

The owners and their representative have been booked under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including charges related to criminal conspiracy, providing false information, fabricating evidence, and selling adulterated or harmful food. The investigation is ongoing, police said.

(With inputs from PTI)