Cauvery water dispute: Dead rat found in meal supplied to police during Bengaluru bandh

So far, there have been no reports of the police falling ill from consuming contaminated food. (Representational image: Unsplash)

Amid Bengaluru bandh being observed on Tuesday during the Cauvery water dispute, the police personnel assigned to handle the situation were horrified when a dead rat was found in the meal supplied to them.

The incident came to light after the officer from the Yeshwantpur Traffic Police Station found the rodent in his food, took pictures of it, and circulated it via WhatsApp, preventing his colleagues from eating the rat-infested food.

Outraged police personnel are now demanding accountability for the meal provided. Even the Joint Commissioner of Police of Traffic Division, MN Anucheth, expressed anger and concern over the quality of food served to the staff, Asianet News reported. A criminal case has been filed against the hotel, Ashok Tiffin Center, which supplied 180 meals to the police.

“A staff of Yeshwantpur Traffic Police Station found a rat in a food distributed to police personnel on duty deployed for the bandh," Anucheth told News Nine. "During the investigation, it was found that a local hotel was asked to prepare the food for 180 personnel of traffic and law and order police personnel. It was distributed at 7.30 am. When he found the rat, he immediately alerted others on the WhatsApp group. After seeing it, nobody consumed the food. "

So far, there have been no reports of the police falling ill from consuming contaminated food.

This, however, isn't the only rat-related event that happened in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

A group of Tamil Nadu farmers in Tiruchirappalli held dead rats in their mouths as a form of protest against the Karnataka government amid the ongoing tussle between the states over Cauvery water.

The video of the "protest" shared by news agency ANI has already received more than 62,000 views within an hour of being shared. The "protest" is apparently a gesture to show that if Karnataka does not release Cauvery water then the farmers--who have been pushed to poverty after the water crisis affected the cultivation of paddy--will be forced to eat rat meat to survive.

Read more: Bengaluru Bandh Today LIVE: Karnataka government released Cauvery water under pressure of DMK, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar