Pani Puri vendor in Bengaluru arrested for using rotten potatoes, onions: Report

Local residents in Bengaluru exposed a vendor for using spoiled ingredients in Pani Puri. The vendor was arrested, granted bail, and warned by the police.

A street food vendor in west Bengaluru was arrested recently after two local residents discovered that he was preparing and selling unhygienic pani puri using spoiled ingredients and unsafe water. The incident occurred near the Navarang Theatre, where Pavan Kumar, who had been operating the cart for three years, was apprehended by the duo after they observed suspicious practices, The Times of India reported.

The potatoes used for stuffing the puris were rotten, while the onions were also decayed.(Unsplash)

Keshav, an autorickshaw driver, reported that he had seen Kumar collecting water from a nearby borewell tank on September 29. When Keshav confronted him, Kumar initially claimed the water was for washing plates. However, Keshav, suspicious of the vendor’s activities, followed him to his pushcart along with his friend Vijay Kumar. Upon closer inspection, the pair saw Kumar using the contaminated borewell water to prepare the spiced water (pani) for the popular snack, the report said.

What they found next was equally alarming. The potatoes used for stuffing the puris were rotten, with about 40 spoiled tubers visibly sitting in a plastic cover, while the onions were also decayed. In addition, Kumar had mixed unwashed coriander leaves into the pani, further compromising the food’s safety, the publication noted.

Outraged by the unhygienic conditions, Keshav immediately reported the incident to the Basaveshwara Nagar police, who registered a case under sections 271 and 272 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which pertain to acts likely to spread dangerous infections.

"I was shocked to know that the person staying in our area was selling unhygienic pani puri for the last three years. We called Basaveshwara Nagar police and handed over Kumar to them," Keshav said, as quoted in the report.

Kumar was arrested, granted bail, and warned by the police. However, Keshav said he has became more vigilant about checking the ingredients used by other roadside pani puri vendors after discovering that Kumar was selling unsafe food.

READ | Hyderabad woman dies, 15 others fall sick after eating momo from same vendor

In a related incident, a woman passed away after eating momos from a roadside stall in Hyderabad, while 15 others fell ill after consuming the same snack at a different location in the city. The affected individuals had all eaten momos prepared by the same vendor, though the stalls were located in separate areas within the Banjara Hills police jurisdiction last week.