Hyderabad: City’s first vegan cafe, Terrassen Cafe, known mainly for its all-in-all vegan menu and community building, was allegedly vandalised by its co-tenant Narayan Murthy, owner of Good Seeds Conscious Space.
On a complaint by Dhanesh Sharma, owner of Terrassen Cafe, the Banjara police station lodged an FIR under Sections 447 (Whoever commits criminal trespass shall be punished with imprisonment), 427 (Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the Indian Penal Code on April 17.
Siasat.com was able to access the FIR copy that states on the night on April 16, the premises of the cafe which is located in Film Nagar, Jubilee Hills, were broken, and electricity, water as well as sewage lines were cut off.
“On April 16, his co-tenant (Narayan Murthy) and manager in the early morning between 3:30 am to 5:30 am again obstructed access to his business and heavily damaged with JCB causing great loss” Dhanesh’s FIR stated.
Speaking to Siasat.com, Dhanesh said he has been facing harassment for over a year.
“Our cafe started functioning in August 2021. The café soon became a cultural hotspot and regularly held events and social gatherings. However, the owner of Good Seeds Conscious Space, Narayan Murthy, instead of supporting small businesses, started harassing us routinely,” he said.
Dhanesh further said that when he first set foot, the 30-year-old building was in a neglected condition. “A lot of work has been put up for Terrassen Cafe to come up. It was a dump yard filled with tons of construction waste. Our staff cleared approximately 50 truckloads of waste out of the premises at its own cost and built a green haven out of a wasteland,” he told Siasat.com.
Dhanesh added that in October 2022, tired of the constant harassment, he approached the police. “The police left off with a stern warning and Murthy even apologised. But that was short-lived,” he said.
Dhanesh says that he is unable to access his cafe resulting in huge losses every day. “Murthy owns the front part of the part while I held the rear part. He has cut off all routes to access my cafe. Neither I nor my staff is able to enter. This has been affecting us mentally and financially. I have a staff who are dependent on me. I need to give salaries. Everything has come to a standstill,” he said.
According to Dhanesh, the place is owned by a person who lives in the United States. Asked if the owner ever intervened in the issue, Dhanesh replied negatively.
An MoU (memorandum of understanding) was signed between the warring parties that said that Dhanesh and Murthy were co-tenents. “The MoU has been misused,” Dhanesh said.
Terrassen Cafe is one of the city’s first vegan cafe, known for its healthy food, and animal-loving environment.
However, Narayan Murthy, owner of Good Seeds Conscious Space, has a different story to tell. According to him, he is the sole tenant of the place thus refuting Dhanesh’s claims.
“Dhanesh is not the tenant. I have been paying the rent on this land for the last ten years. We started our business in 2014. I wanted to expand my business by creating a fun space for families that included cultural events and conscience living,” Murthy alleges.
According to Murthy, in 2021, Dhanesh approached him for space to set up his cafe. “He was facing problems with his previous owner. He asked me if I can provide him space for his business to flourish. Since I knew him, I did not hesitate to help him,” said Murthy.
Regarding the beautification of the land, Murthy agreed that though the work was done by Dhanesh, the payment was made by him.
“Dhanesh only paid for the interiors of his cafe. He did work on the beautification of the land but the expenses were borne by me,” Murthy said, adding he did not ask for any profit amount that Terrassen Cafe made, “I just wanted a fun space for people.”
Murthy alleges that the cafe was not hygienic and Dhanesh treated his employees poorly. “I could not stand it. Hence I asked him to vacate the land. But then he refused. That is when all the trouble began,” Murthy alleges.
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