Bengaluru Police registered an FIR against IAS officer Vikas Marmath and three friends for abusing and assaulting an inspector during a pub raid. The incident happened at 1:30 am on Friday when officers asked for IDs. A video showed the group arguing and hurling abuses at the police team.

Bengaluru:

Bengaluru Police have registered an FIR against an Andhra Pradesh-cadre IAS officer and his three friends for allegedly abusing and assaulting a police Inspector during a pub raid.

The incident happened when Bengaluru police officials raided a pub at around 1:30 am on October and demanded to see Ids of those present. When asked to show an ID, the IAS officer got into an argument with the police officials.

A video showing the IAS officer and his friends hurling abuses at police officers went viral on social media on Tuesday.

The accused IAS officer has been identified as Vikas Marmath, who is serving as Project Director of Kuppam Area Development Authority in Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh. His three friends have been identified as Abhay Uday Singh, Nitesh and Roshan.

The FIR was registered at the Cubbon Park police station following the incident, which reportedly occurred at Kavoor pub.

The FIR states that the accused IAS officer assaulted the police Inspector and threatened him. According to FIR, Bengaluru police, along with the Central Crime Branch (CCB), were conducting raids at pubs and other establishments across the city. During one such raid, CCB personnel in uniform entered the pub and began checking the identity cards of customers at 1.30 a.m. on last Friday to confirm their ages and also to check on suspicious persons.

During the search, when the police asked Marmath to produce his identity card, he and his three friends allegedly became enraged and started arguing with the police.

The accused IAS officer allegedly began hurling abuses at the officers. When the police Inspector questioned him about his behaviour, the IAS officer allegedly slapped the Inspector and threatened him, claiming that he was an IAS officer and that the police could not take action against him.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh led a late-night crackdown on pubs and bars across the city, with around 1,500 police personnel conducting raids and inspections at 400 to 500 locations to check violations of operating hours, underage drinking, and other alleged irregularities, he said on Saturday.

The raids, which continued until 2 a.m. on Saturday, covered pubs and establishments on Brigade Road, including Brigade Garden and Page 3 pubs, along with several other locations across Bengaluru.