In what has become an unexpected development, a 29-year-old businessman in Tamil Nadu was pushed to witness how his marketing strategy had invited trouble after he was booked by the police department under the grounds of violating the COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions. 

According to reports, 29-year-old Zahir Hussain had put a new eatery in Virudhunagar district and with the view of having a grand reception, he advertised that one plate of biriyani will cost Rs 10 in his new shop on its inaugural day. He planned to open his new biriyani shop in Aruppukottai on Sunday and to have a wider reach, he circulated the advertisements across the district. 

He circulated the offer in which he said that Rs 10 biriyani will be available for two hours on Sunday between 11 am to 1 pm. His advertisement had become the talk of the town and on Sunday, exactly at the offer time, hundreds of people had thronged his shop and queued up to win the offer of getting a plate of biriyani for Rs 10.

In the race of getting biriyani, the people had taken a break from the guidelines as most of them hadn't worn the masks and they had rubbed the shoulders by forgetting that they would get infected by COVID-19. As people gathered in large numbers, the development had gone to the attention of the local police department following which they rushed to the shop only to find major violations. 

The reports say that the shop had prepared around 2,500 packets of biriyani with the expectation that more people would come to avail the offer and it was Sunday. As expected, hundreds had stormed towards the shop and when the shop had sold 500 packets, the local police had arrived on the spot and dispersed the crowd. The incident had caused a major traffic jam on the road which brought many vehicles to a standstill. 

Following the development, Zahir Hussain was taken under police custody and two police officers were made to stand before his shop to prevent further crowds. The local police had filed an FIR against the owner under sections 188- disobedience to order, 269 - acting negligently to spread infection of the Indian Penal Code and under the grounds of Epidemic Diseases and Disaster Management Act. Zahir was strictly warned by the police and he was later granted bail.   The remaining packets of biriyani were provided to the needy and poor people in the area.