Baba ka Dhaba owner Kanta Prasad attempted suicide on Thursday night by consuming sleeping pills, police said. The 80-year-old man was rushed to Safdarjung hospital in an unconscious state at around 11.30pm.
“Kanta Prasad, 80-year-old owner of ‘Baba Ka Dhaba’ was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital last night. He was brought in an unconscious condition after he consumed alcohol & sleeping pills. Statement of his son has been recorded for the same. Probe is going on,” said DCP, South, Atul Thakur.
Back in 2020, Kanta Prasad and his wife shot to overnight fame after YouTuber Gaurav Wasan shot a video of the eatery and appealed to his followers to help the couple who were struggling to earn a livelihood.
The video was shared thousands of times on social media and several celebrities joined the appeal to urge Delhi residents to support Kanta Prasad. Baba ka Dhaba was soon flooded by customers.
ANI further tweeted his wife’s statement that read as, “I don’t know anything, I don’t know what did he eat. I had not seen. He fell unconscious, I was sitting at the dhaba. I brought him here. Doctor has not told us anything so far. I don’t know what was going on in his mind: Badami Devi, wife of Baba Ka Dhaba’s Kanta Prasad.”
For the uninitiated, Prasad had apparently received a total of Rs 42 lakh as help, said social worker Adlakha, who had helped ‘baba’ set up the new restaurant, but he denied Prasad’s allegations about encouraging him to open a restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant business failed and Prasad was back at his old eatery within a year.
Prasad had revealed that initially the business was good, but after a while, customers stopped coming and expenses were more than income. He had also revealed that he had spent Rs 1 lakh to run the restaurant, but earning only Rs 30,000. He had said that he is back to his old dhaba and is happy with it.
The expenses of Kanta Prasad included Rs 35,000 for restaurant rent, Rs 36,000 for salary of three employees and Rs 15,000 for ration, electricity and water. Gradually, the number of customers going to the restaurant decreased and the cost of the restaurant started increasing. After this, Kanta Prasad Baba had to close his restaurant.
