'Baba ka Dhaba' owner says ready to apologise to YouTuber if proven wrong

Kanta Prasad has accused food blogger misappropriation of funds

80-year-old Kanta Prasad prepares food at Baba Ka Dhaba, nearly a month after its owners plight became viral on social media and revived their livlihood amid coronavirus pandemic, at Malviya Nagar in New Delhi. PTI

New Delhi, November 3

The controversy over the newly famous 'Baba Ka Dhaba' is getting deeper as 80-year-old Kanta Prasad, the owner of the eatery in South Delhi's Malviya Nagar, said he was ready to apologise to food blogger and YouTuber Gaurav Wasan if his alleged charge of misappropriation of funds against him proved wrong during the police investigation.

A few days ago Prasad had filed a complaint with the Delhi police over the misappropriation of donations to his eatery against Food Blogger and YouTuber Gaurav Wasan of 'Swad Official'.

Earlier, a video of 'Baba Ka Dhaba' owner Kanta Prasad went viral on social media, where he expressed anguish over his financial crisis as his dhaba was shut down due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown. Wasan posted the video on his YouTube social media account leading to people across the country starting a campaign for providing financial help and support to Prasad to restart his business.

Prasad told IANS, "Gaurav has cheated me. He supported me a lot but transferred the donations received from people nationwide to his own bank account instead of transferring the money into my account."

Asked what will he do if the allegations against Gaurav prove to be false, Prasad said "I will see what course of action to follow when the time comes. Right now the investigation is on. I will not hesitate to apologise if my claims are proven wrong as Gaurav did a lot of good work for us."

"If we are proved wrong during the investigation, we will apologise. We will accept our mistake since he supported us," said Prasad.

Food Blogger Gaurav Wasan has denied the allegations saying, "There is absolutely no truth to the frivolous allegations levelled against me. An attempt is being made to malign my reputation. If these charges were true, I wouldn't have come forward to provide proof of my bank statements correctly." Wasan said, "All the money that came into my account has been transferred to Prasad. The police had asked me to reveal my bank statement which I have already given. When Baba comes to know the truth, then finally the outcome will be right."

"I cannot be proved wrong since I have the bank statement to back my evidence. If Rs 25 lakh is found in my bank account then only will I be proved false," Vasan added. — IANS