MNS activists beat up Pune movie theatre manager over food prices

PUNE: A group of over 40 MNS activists, led by former MNS corporator Kishore Shinde and the party’s film wing vice- president, Ramesh Pardeshi, are accused of assaulting assistant manager of PVR cinemas at the PVR Icon multiplex, located in the plush Pavilion mall, Senapati Bapat road, on Thursday evening.

The irate MNS workers holding placards barged into the multiplex shouting slogans and questioned the management about the extravagant rates for food items being sold to customers.

Shinde and Pardeshi, along with three others, were arrested for assault. The others were identified as Chetan Dhotre, Yogesh Mahendrakar and Satish Wanole. All of them are remanded to police custody till Saturday. The Bombay high court has reprimanded the state government for overcharging citizens for food and beverages at multiplexes.

Bench of justices directed the state to examine the Bombay Police Act, to see if it can be used to regulate prices of eatables being sold in cinema halls and termed the prices of such food items as often ‘exorbitant’.

At the Pune multiples, the victim, Vinod Kumar Mali ( 25), was questioned about the rates and then slapped by Shinde and Pardeshi, even as he tried to pacify them. MNS activists also threatened multiplex staffers who tried to intervene.

A video of the assault went viral late on Thursday.

Chatuhshrungi police inspector Dayanand Dhome said, “MNS activists led by Shinde and Pardeshi were angry over the issue of exorbitant charges being recovered by the multiplex management for basic food items like popcorn and vada pav.

MNS workers questioned as to why popcorn was being sold for ~250 and vada pav for ~100.