'Afraid of losing biz': Man explains why he heckled foreign vlogger

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The street vendor who was booked for manhandling a foreign vlogger in the city told the police that he acted out of fear of his business being affected, police sources said on Tuesday.

The accused identified as Navab Hayath Sharif, 58, was slapped with Section 92 of the Karnataka Police Act on Monday for attacking a vlogger from Netherlands, Pedro Mota, while he was recording a vlog of the Sunday Bazaar of Chickpet in Bengaluru. The police probe revealed that the incident had taken place two months ago while the video was uploaded by the victim on Sunday and soon was brought to the notice of Bengaluru police by whistle-blowers and advocates here.

The accused claimed that he was afraid the vlogger who was making a video of the Sunday Bazaar may give information to the police and he won't be allowed to carry on with his business there. It was disclosed that the accused also runs an auto-rickshaw for livelihood.

Pedro uploaded the video on his YouTube channel and captioned the video following his horrific experience as, "Foreigners traveling in India experience the thieves market in Bangalore, also known as the Sunday market or chor bazaar. But exploring the area started out on the wrong foot as an angry man attacked me by grabbing and twisting my hand and arm, lunging after me as I tried to escape. After I had some street food, met great local Indian people and haggled for a new buttoned shirt."