HUBBALLI: It’s not clear if this trend was inspired by a scene from the movie ‘Tagaru’ in which a don celebrates his birthday by cutting a cake with a talwar. But, in Hubballi-Dharwad, many youths, including rowdies, are celebrating their birthdays in this manner.Video clips of these events are being shared on WhatsApp and Facebook. The first incident was reported at Ganesh Pet in which a fish vendor, identified as Irshad, celebrated his birthday by cutting a cake with a long, lethal weapon Later, Shubham Bijawad, a college student, also cut his birthday cake with a talwar. Another video went viral a couple of days ago in which Chetan Hirekerur, a history-sheeter, did the same thing.DCP (law & order) Renuka Sukumar told TOI that they checked Irshad’s video and found he had used a fish-cutting knife.“No case was registered but the inquiry is on,” she said. DCP B S Nemagoud , who handled the Bijawad case, said he is a student and used a talwar to cut the cake. “Keeping a talwar is illegal and therefore he was arrested and released on bail,” she said.Sukumar said Hirekerur is yet to be booked as the video clip is being verified. “Hirekerur claims the video is two years old and will submit the video of the recent birthday celebrations. We’ll take action after verifying the clip,” she said.Senior police officers said the preliminary investigation found that the three youths used lethal weapons without any bad intention.“It has become a fashion to celebrate birthdays like this. Maybe they want their videos to go viral,” a senior officer told TOI.Hubballi-Dharwad police commissioner MN Nagaraj said houses of all rowdies were searched to find if they stored any arms. “Hoarding arms is illegal. Monday’s raids will ensure that no such incidents occur again,” he added.

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