INDIAN restaurant Masala Wheels has been in the news for all the wrong reasons since June.

Its credibility not only took a hit locally but also in India – this after accusations were made against the social enterprise restaurant and one of its owners by a former employee, an Indian national.

After months of countering allegations made by the former staff – Velayutham from Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu – and facing business losses, the police have finally classified the case against the restaurant as needing “no further action” (NFA).

Speaking to The Malaysian Insight in an exclusive interview, Kuhan Pathy, co-founder of Petaling Jaya-based Masala Wheels, expressed his delight that they have been cleared of all allegations.

“That is a big success for us because after the (authorities’) full investigation, they realised that Ravindran was victimised,” he said, referring to Ravindran Subramaniam, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the restaurant who was the subject of Velayutham’s slanderous and damaging statements.

Velayutham made several allegations against the restaurant and its CEO in two interviews – one over a Tamil channel in India, hosted by actress and prominent host Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, and the other, where the two participated in an interview with Malaysian Human Resource Minister M. Saravanan.

In those interviews, both held in Tamil, Velayutham accused his employers of withholding his salary and burning his passport.

He also claimed to have been assaulted and said he witnessed his fellow worker doused with petrol and suffered burns for threatening to expose the sexual abuse that the restaurant subjected its workers to.

He then claimed to have escaped from the restaurant last year before seeking help from the Indian embassy to return home.

Velayutham said he spent months staying with Indian workers in Malaysia before going back to India on May 30 after launching a social media campaign to seek funds for his return.

Since the allegations surfaced, a multi-agency task force, including the Labour Department and the police, had raided the restaurant and two people were brought in for further investigation.

Saravanan said his ministry has the authority to take action on the employers if they were found guilty of violating labour laws, but explained that it would be up to the police to investigate the criminal allegations.

Investigation on the cases has now been concluded with investigating officer ASP Irwan Ahmad saying that the case is now NFA, and that there is no action taken on the restaurant and Ravindran.

Kuhan says that Velayutham, who came to Malaysia in 2018, was supposed to work elsewhere but an agent got him to work at the restaurant temporarily.

He said Velayutham started working at Masala Wheels from November 2018 until the day he disappeared, in March 2020.

He also said the company did not go against any laws in planning to hire Velayutham as a full-time staff, as the Ministry of Home Affairs had given them three quotas to hire foreign workers, which is valid to date.

According to Kuhan, problems arose between Velayutham and Ravindran after the latter noticed a large sum of money missing from the petty cash during auditing.

Velayutham ran away

Kuhan said Velayutham ran away from the restaurant before he could be placed in the rehiring programme under the ministry’s quota.

“When he was working with us, he was given more responsibility as he was the oldest employee. We placed some amount of trust on him and allowed him to handle the cashier.

“So, he would buy things for the shop and even pay our suppliers with the petty cash available.

“This is an organisation that is audited, an organisation that has external accountants. So, in 2020, when there was an audit, it was found that the accounts didn’t tally and he was questioned.

“Hence, the actual truth here is that he left on his own after Ravindran questioned him on the missing funds,” Kuhan said.

Kuhan also explained the status of Velayutham’s passport, which the latter had claimed had been destroyed by his bosses, and that he returned to India using a temporary passport.

“He actually left his passport behind when he left but alleged that the passport was burnt right in front of his eyes.

“Well, the passport was not burnt as he claimed. We have submitted the passport that was left behind to the police.

“It is in the safe possession of the police now as it is a key piece of evidence.

Kuhan also disputed Velayutham’s claim that he was not paid for his work.

He said Velayutham was given a RM1,200 monthly wage, and this was credited to his account in India after deductions.

He said there is documentation proof for all the transactions.

Claim of being set on fire

Kuhan also responded to Velayutham’s claims that all employees were forced to work for long hours, sometimes from 5am to midnight.

He said Masala Wheels was a restaurant that served only lunch daily and had never operated beyond 3pm.

He added that they were one of the restaurants that opened for the shortest hours because they are a not-for-profit entity.

“We only operate our restaurant from 11am to 3pm but he claimed that he was forced to work until midnight.

“They may start as early as 6 or 7am to prepare for lunch but never until midnight.

“We don’t know about it (midnight work), unless he is selling something behind the restaurant without us knowing,” he said.

On Velayutham’s claims that a worker was doused with petrol and injured after he threatened to expose what was happening in the restaurant, Kuhan said such an incident did happen, but between two employees.

He said it was caused by some misunderstanding between the two of them, both of whom are no longer working at the restaurant.

He said the matter was brought to the police’s attention at the time of the incident and nothing was kept hidden.

Kuhan said the police investigated the matter but did not pursue further as both individuals involved resolved their issues.

Under investigation in India

Kuhan also denied Velayutham’s claims of sexual abuse at the restaurant.

“The police and Labour Department investigated all staff to know whether there was any rape or if the CEO had misconducted himself with any of the staff. Everything was negative.

“Even some of our male staff had a swab test taken. Even that turned out negative. So, there was no substantial evidence of sexual conduct here,” Kuhan said.

As all the allegations are now debunked and with the relevant agencies having completed the investigation, Kuhan said the police have now asked Ravindran to lodge a counter report on Velayutham for false allegations.

Kuhan also said in the latest progress, the organisation, through legal representation in India, has written to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, High Commission of India, Consulate General in Chennai and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the matter.

“The CBI of India has now taken up the case and is investigating Velayudham for false allegations,” Kuhan said. – September 6, 2021.