Eatery cook, owner held for spitting on 'roti' dough in UP

Lucknow, Jan 12 (IANS) After hair stylist Jawed Habib, now a cook at a roadside eatery in Kakori on the outskirts of Lucknow, who has been caught on camera, spitting on the dough for making 'rotis' (flat bread).

The cook has been arrested with his five helpers -- Danish, Hafiz, Mukhtar, Firoz, and Anwar -- who can be seen standing and looking at him in a video clip that has gone viral on social media.

The action was taken by police after the 22-second video of the incident sparked public outrage.

Assistant commissioner of police, Kakori, Ashutosh Kumar, said that the dhaba owner Yakub has also been arrested along with the cook.

The accused have been booked under the Epidemic Act along with charges of negligent act likely to spread a disease or infection and malignant act done to spread the infection, Kumar said.

Police officials revealed that the video had been uploaded on social media by one Sushil Rajput. The video has been shot from a distance and it is not clear that the cook is really spitting or not. The police will seek technical assistance to ascertain the charge.

Last year in February, one Naushad was caught in Meerut after a video of spitting on bread dough went viral.

He told the police that he has been making bread for 10-15 years and has been spitting on the rotis since the beginning.