Bengaluru: The Sadashivanagar police have arrested an employee of a cafe in Bengaluru after a mobile phone with video recording turned on was found in the ladies’ toilet. The arrested person is Manoj, 23, a resident of Guttahalli in the city and a native of Shivamogga.

Manoj worked at the Third Wave Coffee branch on BEL Road for six months, a police officer said DHHe was subsequently fired from the outlet.

“The phone is being analyzed,” the officer said. “Further investigations are ongoing.”

The incident came to light on Saturday through a social media post.

Siddharth (@SidKeVichaar) posted a screenshot of a story from gangsofcinepur on Instagram on Saturday.

“I was at a @thirdwavecoffeeindia branch in Bengaluru this morning and this is what happened: A woman found a phone in the washroom hidden in a trash can and pointed at the toilet seat. It had been recording video for about two hours. It was set to airplane mode so it doesn’t make any noise and was carefully hidden in a trash bag with a hole made in it so only the camera is visible,” the Instagram story read.

“It quickly became apparent that the phone belonged to one of the men working there. The police were called and soon arrived and action was taken.

This was so horrible to watch. I will be vigilant in every toilet I use from now on, no matter how well known the café or restaurant chain is. And I ask all of you to do the same. This is absolutely disgusting.”

In response to the post, the medium posted on X that the person in question had been fired.

“We regret the unfortunate incident that occurred at our BEL Road branch in Bengaluru and would like to stress that such actions are absolutely unacceptable at Third Wave Coffee. We reacted quickly to resolve the situation by immediately dismissing the individual and ensuring the safety of our customers,” the post said.

The police have registered a case under Section 77 (voyeurism) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and relevant sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act.