Baba Ka Dhaba owner Kanta Prasad, who shot to fame last month after a video of him tearfully recounting the desperation of the months since the lockdown went viral, has now filed a police complaint against YouTuber Gaurav Wasan for allegedly misappropriating money that was raised to help him and his wife.

On Sunday, Prasad told a leading daily he has only received a cheque of Rs 2 lakh from Wasan. “I don’t get a lot of customers now; most people come here to take selfies… Earlier I was earning over Rs 10,000 per day, now it’s Rs 3,000-Rs 5,000,” he said. The complaint filed by Prasad, along with a group of men, at Malviya Nagar police station Saturday claims Wasan “deliberately shared his and his family’s bank details and collected a huge amount as donation”.

DCP (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said, “We received the complaint yesterday and are enquiring into it.” No FIR has been registered yet.

Recommended Read: ‘Baba Ka Dhaba’ trends as Bollywood celebs lend support and urge fans to help elderly food stall owners

Gaurav denied the allegations and said he transferred all the money into Prasad’s account. He said, “When I shot the video, I didn’t know it would become this big. I didn’t want people to harass Baba (Prasad) so I shared my bank details…” Gaurav shared three receipts of the transactions, all dated October 27 — two cheques of Rs 1,00,000 and Rs 2,33,000 and one receipt of bank payment of Rs 45,000. He said this was the amount of money collected in the three days. He also put up a bank statement on Facebook in which the total money credited in the three days is around Rs 3.5 lakh. Asked about the other two transactions, Prasad said he hasn’t been able to check his account as he doesn’t carry his phone.

While some YouTubers alleged Gaurav received Rs 20-25 lakh, he denied it. “We have initiated legal action against the YouTubers,” he said.

(Source: The Indian Express)