Bengaluru Police on Saturday arrested nine men in connection with the harassment of staff at a city outlet of Karachi Bakery, The Hindu reported. The men are residents of Halasuru and nearby areas, the report said.
Police are questioning them to find others involved. One of the men works at a printing press and another in a hotel, though they have all claimed to be social workers. The nine were booked for rioting and criminal breach of trust, Deccan Herald reported.
On Friday, a group of people had protested at the Indiranagar branch of the bakery, ostensibly objecting that the company bears the name of a city in Pakistan, which they have accused of supporting terrorism against India. The incident was reported a week after the terror attack in Pulwama, for which Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility. After this, the word “Karachi” had been covered on the bakery’s signboard.
The bakery on Saturday had clarified that it was “absolutely Indian by heart”, and founded by Khanchand Ramnani, who migrated to India during the Partition.
Other outlets of Karachi Bakery in Bengaluru have also received threatening calls since February 17 from groups demanding that the firm should change its name or shut down the business, employees said. Employees at the company’s Mahadevapura outlet said that they had complained to the police about the calls.
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