Policed By Cops, Mumbai Pokemon Fans Go Catch 'Em Elsewhere

Mumbai: Tanishq Jain, 21, calls himself the biggest fan of Pokemon Go - a smartphone video game that has taken the world by storm - in Mumbai.

Never failing to turn up for any Pokemon meet in Mumbai so far, Tanishq now keeps his fingers crossed for the game to be officially launched in India.

"Pokemon is life to me. It's more important than any other thing - work, friends, family," said Tanishq.

Which is why like Tanishq, more than 7,000 fans were disappointed after Mumbai's biggest Pokemon Go event was cancelled yesterday due to lack of availability of a location. But despite this, more than 500 fans turned up in Mumbai's Marine Drive for the event.
 "Since 7,000 people were coming, we thought we will shift the location to Azad Maidan. The plan was to meet there, interact, share thoughts about Pokemon and after that spread out. But...we were not allowed by the cops," said Tany Joseph, the organiser of the meet up.

Police however deny refusing permission. "Police is not denying him permission to hold a meet but Azad Maidan is a location dedicated only for protests. If he chooses another venue, we are ready to grant permission according to due process," said Manoj Kumar Sharma, a senior police officer.

What followed was a series of tweets exchanged between Mumbai police and disgruntled fans on social media.

Life is not a game. Especially not one to be played on the roads! #RoadSafety pic.twitter.com/qQghrHDNWr

- Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) July 24, 2016

Some fans too cautioned others to be careful while playing the game.

"Don't drive and play at the same time. It's almost a given but people still do that. They might end up in an accident and after that people will be after us and call us irresponsible. Just a few gamers give the community a bad name," said Antony Stephen Mendes, another organiser of the meet.

Dejected by police, Mumbai's Pokemon fans have now taken to keeping the meets low key by organising walks in small numbers across the city.