MNS activists beat up PVR manager over popcorn, vada pav prices at Pune multiplex - Hindustan Times
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MNS activists beat up PVR manager over popcorn, vada pav prices at Pune multiplex

Hindustan Times, Pune | By
Jun 30, 2018 02:34 PM IST

Police arrest 5 for rioting, physical assault and unlawful assembly under IPC

A group of over 40 MNS activists, led by former MNS corporator Kishore Shinde and the party’s film wing vice- president, Ramesh Pardeshi, are accused of assaulting assistant manager of PVR cinemas at the PVR Icon multiplex, located in the plush Pavilion mall, Senapati Bapat road, on Thursday evening. The irate MNS workers holding placards barged into the multiplex shouting slogans and questioned the management about the extravagant rates for food items being sold to customers.

PVR Pride Icon at The Pavilion, where the attack took place.(SHANKAR NARAYAN/HT PHOTO)
PVR Pride Icon at The Pavilion, where the attack took place.(SHANKAR NARAYAN/HT PHOTO)

The police have arrested Shinde and Pardeshi along with three others for assault. The others have been identified as Chetan Dhotre, Yogesh Mahendrakar and Satish Wanole. All accused have been remanded to police custody till Saturday.

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The Bombay high court has reprimanded the state government for overcharging citizens for food and beverages at multiplexes . A bench of justices Ranjit More and Anuja Prabhudessai directed the state to examine the Bombay Police Act, to see if it can be used to regulate prices of eatables being sold in cinema halls and termed the prices of such food items as often “exorbitant’.

At the Pune multiples, the victim, Vinod Kumar Mali ( 25), was questioned about the rates and then slapped by Shinde and Pardeshi, even he tried to pacifiy them. MNS activists also threatened multiplex staffers who tried to intervene. A video of the assault went viral late on Thursday, showing the assault taking place in full public view.

Chatushrungi police inspector Dayanand Dhome said, “MNS activists led by Shinde and Pardeshi were angry over the issue of exorbitant charges being recovered by the multiplex management for basic food items like popcorn and vada pav. MNS workers vented their ire and questioned as to why popcorn was being sold for Rs 250 and vada pav for Rs100. They physically assaulted Mali, according to an FIR lodged against them under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) ,” he said.

Meanwhile, the police have invoked sections of rioting, physical assault and unlawful assembly under the IPC.

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