Mumbai: Man booked for extorting cafe over roach in food

Mayuresh Shirke’s defamatory post and the photos he uploaded on a social media platform. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

The Navghar police have filed an FIR against an individual who allegedly threatened to post a photo of food contaminated by a cockroach if the owner of Mani's Café did not pay him Rs 1 lakh. The matter came to light on June 25 when Maliea Nadar, the owner of Mani's Café approached the Navghar police to register an FIR against Mayuresh Shirke for allegedly defaming the restaurant on Facebook. The police registered an FIR and are investigating the case.

According to the FIR, an employee informed Nadar that an individual had come to the restaurant in Mulund East around 7 am on June 11 and placed a parcel order for idli sambar. He took the parcel and left the restaurant. Around 11 am, the restaurant received a call and the caller had said he had collected the parcel in the morning and had spotted a cockroach in the food. The person on call had allegedly abused the restaurant staff and said "Tumhara café band kar dunga, complaint kar dunga (I will file a complaint and have the cafe shut down)".

"The caller came near the café late at night and introduced himself as Mayuresh Shirke. He claimed that he had found a cockroach in his food and threatened to defame us on social media platforms. On June 12, he returned and we apologised for the incident again. We also initiated a refund but he was adamant about defaming us on social media," Nadar told mid-day.

According to Nadar, Shirke returned the following day and threatened to post photos on social media. "Dukan band kar dunga, photo post kar dunga (I will post photos online and ensure the cafe shuts down)". On June 15, Shirke visited the restaurant again and demanded Rs 1 lakh "to keep his mouth shut". However, the restaurant owners refused to pay. "We politely told him we couldn't pay the amount and we would initiate a refund. We also apologised again for the incident. But he didn't listen and left," Nadar added.

On June 17, Shirke put up a post on Facebook with photos, claiming that he found a cockroach in the idli sambar he ordered from Mani's Café. "He claims that he had found a cockroach in the food on June 11 but kept quiet till June 17. When we refused to give him money, he posted it on social media. Hence we approached the police," Nadar said.

"We are investigating the matter. Mani's Café approached us to register an FIR and based on that we have begun the investigation," said an officer from Navghar police station. mid-day tried to connect with Shirke but received no response. The Navghar police have booked Shirke under Sections 385 (to commit extortion by putting anyone in fear), 500 (defamation), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.