Bengaluru Cafe Employee Arrested For Filming Women With Hidden Camera In Washroom

A 23-year-old man, an employee of Third Wave Coffee outlet on BEL Road in Bengaluru was arrested on Saturday for filming women using the washroom. A mobile phone was found in the women’s washroom recording video for approximately two hours inside a dustbin in the famous coffee outlet.

The incident took place at the Third Wave Coffee outlet on BEL Road in the metropolis where an employee has been accused of allegedly hiding a phone in the women’s restroom.

An Instagram handle named ‘Gangs Of Cinepur’ posted a story where a user described the shocking incident.

“I was at the Third Wave Coffee outlet in Bengaluru… A woman found a phone in the washroom, hidden in the dustbin, with video recording on for about 2 hours, facing the toilet seat. It was in flight mode so that it makes no sound,” the story read.

The user further mentioned that the phone was carefully hidden so that only the camera was exposed.

“The phone was carefully hidden in the dustbin bag and had a hole made in it so that only the camera was exposed. It was quickly found that the phone belonged to one of the men working there. The police were called, and they arrived soon enough, and action is being taken,” it added.

The user further urged the people to be vigilant and take extra caution while using a washroom in a public place.

“This was so horrific to witness. I will be vigilant at any washroom I use from now on, no matter how well-known the chain of cafes or restaurants is. I request all of you to do the same. This is disgusting,” the story read.

Upon discovering the phone, the woman alerted the cafe staff, who then identified the device as belonging to one of their employees. The incident was promptly reported to the police, who arrived quickly at the scene. Authorities are currently investigating the matter and taking appropriate action, according to report by HT.

Outlet Responds

Third Wave Coffee responded to the incident and said, “We regret the unfortunate incident at our BEL Road outlet in Bengaluru and want to emphasize that such actions are absolutely unacceptable at Third Wave Coffee.”

“We acted swiftly to address the situation by immediately terminating the person & ensuring the safety of our customers,” the popular coffee chain added.

The police confirmed that the accused had been arrested under the IT Acts.

The accused, identified as Manoj, hails from Bhadrawati in Karnataka’s Shivamogga district and is a resident of BEL Road.

Phone Kept On Flight Mode

Manoj had put the phone on flight mode before setting it into recording mode so that incoming calls would not disrupt the recording and tried to hide it with tissue papers in the dustbin, an officer noted.

“He claimed this was the first time he tried filming, but we are not sure if he has deleted the previous videos. We have seized the phone and will be sending it for data retrieval,” another officer was quoted by TOI as saying.