Bangalore, Oct. 26: Barely had he fended off corruption charges hurled at his family than H.D. Kumaraswamy was sucked into a fresh row today. This time, it’s his teenage son who is putting the Karnataka chief minister in a spot of bother.

Nikhil Gowda, 19, and two of his friends — Manjunath, 23, and Syed, 22 — were allegedly involved in a drunken brawl outside a restaurant, off the busy M.G. Road, around 4.15 this morning.

The three apparently insisted on placing an order despite being told that the kitchen was shut and that the staff were only waiting for the customers inside to finish.

The youths, according to a police complaint, argued with the workers and abused them. This led to an exchange of blows after which the three got into their car and sped away.

They stopped at a nearby police station and lodged a complaint of assault against the restaurant workers. Nikhil, who identified himself as the chief minister’s son, asked a constable to accompany them to the government-run Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, where the youths were treated for external injuries.

When on their way back around 5 am, they saw the restaurant still open, the youths broke into a rage and allegedly threw stones and a beer bottle at its glass frontage.

Soon after, the hotel management lodged a police complaint against “three unidentified youths”, who were apparently drunk, accusing them of beating up the restaurant staff and damaging property.

Some Youth Congress workers present at the site of the scuffle identified Nikhil and tipped off the media. They also staged a protest and demanded Nikhil’s arrest.

Additional commissioner of police Bipin Gopalakrishna confirmed that Nikhil had filed a complaint and that the restaurant had lodged a counter-complaint. The police are investigating the case, he said. “We will hold an impartial inquiry.”

The youths who went to the Bowring hospital for treatment this morning were, however, not tested for alcohol intake. The hospital’s medical superintendent, R. Shetty, told reporters that one of them wrote his name in the register as Nikhil, but added that he did not know whether he is Kumaraswamy’s son.

“Their injuries were minor,” Shetty said.

The chief minister, who was in Mandya near Mysore, said: “Law will take its own course.”

Caught in the eye of a storm, the restaurant downed its shutters for the day.