YouTuber Gaurav Wasan whowas accused of misappropriating the funds raised through his video to help the owner of Delhi eatery Baba Ka Dhaba, has said that he will go to court against those trying to “defame” him.
On 6th October 2020, Wasan’s video posted on YouTube with a call for financial assistancehad brought Baba Ka Dhaba into the limelight with help pouring in from all quarters for 80-year-old Kanta Prasad and his wife Badami Devi. Baba Ka Dhaba is a small eatery in the Malviya Nagar locality of Delhi.
The owner Prasad filed a complaint on 31 October 2020 with the police and alleged that he did not receive from Wasan all the money that he had received from people seeking to help his Dhaba.
Prasad filed the police complaint as he was “manipulated” by a group of Youtubers and Wasan has decided to take legal action against these Youtubers.
He said, “Some individuals have defamed my name without any proof. My reputation has been damaged by the false social media narrative. I will be taking legal action against them.”
The video blogger said his lawyer is in the final stages of drafting the defamation suit, which they plan to file in court “within a week”. He was alleged by Lakshya Chaudhary after which another video was uploaded by a Youtuber which even featured 2 bloggers him of not transferring all the money he had received as help for Prasad to the latter’s bank account.
Wasan said, “The police have accessed my bank details. Till now, I have not received any copy of the complaint. If they find any kind of forgery, they will go ahead with the case. But I am sure of my innocence.”
The police said they are investigating the matter and said that they have already accessed the bank details of the accused
Wasan has been posting screenshots of his account details to show all the amounts received and the bank transfers done since the allegations surfaced on social media and have also claimed to have transferred over Rs 3 lakh to Prasad’s account.
Wasan hasn’t been contacted by Prasad after filing the complaint but Prasad said in interviews that he had never asked the YouTuber to help them or collect money on their behalf.
Wasan said that he has no complaint against Prasad as he feels that Prasad has been “manipulated” and said, “I have no grudges against Baba. He has been manipulated. I won’t file a case against him.”
One of the people who helped Prasad filed the police complaint said, “If Gaurav has not misappropriated the funds then why is he only showing the statements till 10th October? What happened between 10th October and 25th October?” and further added, “We will talk to our lawyer if he files a defamation case against us.”
