Hyderabad, Mar 13 (PTI) Police used "mild force" to disperse a crowd that gathered at a hotel here after free haleem distribution offered by the restaurant led to chaos and traffic disruption in the area.
According to police, a large number of people gathered near the hotel on Tuesday when the hotel management announced the distribution of free haleem (a delicacy). As the situation turned uncontrollable, the hotel staff stopped serving it and police had to intervene who dispersed the crowd.
Visuals of police wielding lathis to control the crowd gathered outside the hotel have gone viral on social media.
A case was also booked against the hotel management under relevant sections of the IPC, a police official at Malakpet Police Station said on Wednesday.
The official, however, denied police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the crowd.
The police were not informed about the free offer by the hotel management. If police had got information, an adequate force would have been deployed, the official said.