Delhi police books YouTuber accused of cheating Baba Ka Dhaba owner

The Delhi Police on Friday registered a case against YouTuber Gaurav Wasan for allegedly misappropriating funds received as donation for the owner of Baba Ka Dhaba, an eatery in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar.

Kanta Prasad (80), the owner of the eatery, had shot to fame after a video of him tearfully recounting his business losses due to lockdown, went viral on social media. The video was shot by Wasan.

The case was registered against the YouTuber following a complaint lodged by Prasad on October 31, nearly a month after the video went viral.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said, “after we received a complaint, preliminary enquiry was done and an FIR was registered under section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code and an investigation has been initiated.”

Earlier, Prasad said he was hurt over being called “greedy” by some people on social media after he lodged a complaint against Wasan and challenged the YouTuber to disclose his bank details to prove his innocence.

Talking to reporters at a press conference, Prasad, accompanied by his lawyer Prem Joshi and blogger Tushant, claimed that Wasan gave him a cheque of 2.33 lakh on October 26 after the YouTuber was criticised for not handing over the donations to Prasad.

Tushant alleged that Wasan has only disclosed his bank account statements from October 7 to 10 whereas he received more money after that. He demanded that Wasan must reveal his bank account statements till October 26.

Joshi highlighted that in the initial videos shared by Wasan, he had claimed that Prasad did not have a bank account or a mobile phone but that was a lie. Joshi also claimed that on October 26, when Wasan gave the cheque to Prasad, he made him sign a paper claiming that all dues had been settled. However, later he again gave Rs 1.45 lakh to Prasad.

Wasan, however, said that he has submitted to the police his bank account statements till November 2 and maintained that he gave Prasad the entire amount he received as donation.