Junior Vikatan on Saravana Bhavan case

Follow up post on Saravana Bhavan Shivakumar's involvement in US Visa Fraud.

Junior Vikatan has a cover story on the same topic with lot of juicy info about the relationship between Shivakumar and his dad Annachi Rajagopal. It also highlights the irregularities going on in some of the overseas operations of Saravana Bhavan.

நம்மூரில் உணவு பரிமாறும் சர்வர்களுக்கு டிப்ஸ் கொடுப் போம். ஆனால், வெளிநாட்டு உணவகங்களில் அந்த டிப்ஸ், சர்வர் முதல் அடுப்படியில் இருக்கும் ஊழியர்வரை போய்ச் சேர்கிற மாதிரியாக ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்டிருக்கும். ஒவ்வொரு உணவகத்திலும் ஒரு பெட்டி இருக்கும். அதில் விருப்பப்பட்டவர்கள் தங்கள் டிப்ஸைப் போடலாம். இரவானதும் அதை உணவக ஊழியர்கள் பிரித்து எடுத்துக் கொள்வார்கள். இப்படித்தான் சிங்கப்பூர் சரவணபவன் கிளையிலும் நடந்து வந்தது. ஆனால், சிவகுமார் பொறுப்பேற்ற பிறகு, டிப்ஸ் பெட்டியைத் தன் வசப்படுத்திக் கொண்டார். அது நிர்வாகத்துக்கே சொந்தம் என்று சொல்லத் தொடங்கினார். இதனால் ஆத்திரமடைந்த ஊழியர் ஒருவர் சிவகுமாரை ஏக வசனத்தில் பேச, இருவருக்கும் கைகலப்பு ஏற்பட்டது. அது அந்த ஊர் போலீஸ் வரை போக, விவகாரம் சீரியஸானது. பிறகு அந்த ஊழியரின் குடும்பத்தினரிடம் பேசி, கணிசமான தொகை கொடுத்து ஏகப்பட்ட சலுகைகளையும் கொடுத்து சமாதானப்படுத்தினார் சிவகுமார். (விகடன் வழியாக)

Saravana Bhavan involved in US visa fraud

Unlike South East Asian countries, it's not easy obtaining visa to the West. R Sivakumar, son of Saravana Bhavan owner Annachi Rajagopal has been arrested in Chennai for submitting improper information for taking some staff to work in the US. I guess it's probably easy (in relative terms) to take chefs to foreign shores but it gets a bit difficult if they try to take waiters and other support staff.

R. Siva Kumar (40), one of the proprietors of Saravana Bhavan hotels, was taken into custody by the Crime Branch CID police here on Saturday night. He was accused of furnishing false information to obtain a U.S. visa for four persons.

According to CB-CID sources, Siva Kumar had tried to secure visa for four persons on the pretext of taking them to the U.S. on a fun trip. During interview at the U.S. Consulate, officials found that their profile did not match with what was actually provided. (Link)

Most of Saravana Bhavan's international expansion has been with the help of Hot Breads Mahadevan. I wonder whether Sivakumar consulted Mahadevan before trying out such tactics. With money power on their side, I won't be surprised if Sivakumar is relieved from this case pretty soon.

Update:

According to Times of India, the people involved in the visa fraud were cooks and were about to be taken to the US under the guise of attending an industrial expo.

The four men, he had claimed, were production executives proceeding to Chicago for an international industrial fair on packaging and processing. But US immigration officials found that they were supervisors employed in his restaurants at Chennai and UAE to help customers. According to police sources, Sivakumar claimed that the four were being taken abroad to help him purchase advanced packaging equipment.

Last Monday, the four met US Consulate officials for an interview. “During verification, Consulate officials found that the four employees had very little knowledge about catering machinery and that Sivakumar had falsely prepared documents and given them false designations only to get them into the US. Anthony K Ramirez, assistant regional security officer at the Consulate, lodged a complaint with the CB-CID seeking action,” a senior police officer said.

In his complaint, Ramirez said he suspected that Sivakumar had devised a plan to get them jobs in the US after getting them tourist visas and that he had devised a cover — delegates visiting an expo in Chicago — to clear the way. He said he suspected that Sivakumar was involved in human trafficking. (Link)

IBN Live has a video report on the same issue.

Follow-up post relating to Junior Vikatan Cover Story.

Favourite eating joints in Chennai

Popular cookbook author Mallika Badrinath lists her favourite eat outs in Chennai. Usual suspects like Grand Sweets and Ratna Café do make it to the list. Long established outlets like Agarwal Bhavan (famous for its yummy lassis!) also find a place. 

One has to say that places like Agarwal Bhavan and Ramakrishna Lunch Home are slowly fading away from public memory as they have not kept up with the times. 

What is your favourite eating joint?