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Journalism of Courage
A tribute gig at Turquoise Cottage in Green Park on Friday night took an ugly turn when two members of a metal band were allegedly roughed up by a bartender and two bouncers. Sahil Sharma, a 22-year-old guitarist with The Cosmic Truth, received stitches on his head after a fight broke out over the bar bill. Three FIRs have been filed at Safdarjung Enclave police station.
“Cross FIRs have been registered. There are three FIRs — one against bar manager Harpal Singh and others, filed by Sahil Sharma; one against Sharma, filed by the bar manager; and a third against Sharma and his brother, filed by a constable for quarrelling inside the PCR van. They abused him and tore his uniform, the constable alleged in his FIR,” said Additional DCP (south) Chinmoy Biswal.
After their hour-long performance at Turquoise Cottage, Sharma said he saw the band’s sound engineer, Mayank Tiwari, involved in an argument with the bartender over the bill. “I interfered when I saw another bartender, Harpal Singh, roughing up Mayank. I approached the bar manager who nodded and left… A while later, Harpal and two bouncers started punching and dragging me down a flight of stairs. I have stitches on my head because of this,” alleged Sharma.
Band member Jayant Bhadula, 23, said he was downstairs waiting for Sharma and Mayank when he found out about the fight. “Sahil was being carried out by two people… When we went inside to confront the management, the bouncers tried to fight us. I called police around 1 am,” he said. Gaurav Doral, owner of Turquoise Cottage, said, “We’ve been in this industry since 1997, we’ve always been respectful towards artistes. In this case, my staff politely asked them to step outside because they were creating a ruckus. According to our CCTV footage, Sharma slipped and hurt his head when he was being escorted out. I stand by my staff.”
A case under IPC sections 323, 341, 506 and 34 has been registered against Harpal Singh and others, while another case under IPC sections 341, 323, 506, 34 has been registered against Sharma. “When we called police, the constable who arrived treated us very poorly. He pushed me in the PCR by my neck, even though I was bleeding… Harpal intimidated me and my elder brother, and even punched me in the stomach in front of the constable,” alleged Sharma. A case under IPC sections 186, 332, 353, 34 has been registered against Sharma after an FIR was filed by the constable.
