Gurgaon: Haryana lived up to its reputation of being India's "Wild West" on Saturday night.
Models, who were to walk the ramp for fashion designer Sanjana Jon, had to face the ire of over 50,000 Jats as their hero Dalip Singh Rana aka The Great Khali failed to turn up at a wrestling event.
<i>"Yoddhao Ka Sangram"</i>, held at the Tau Devi Lal stadium in Gurgaon, saw more action outside the ring than inside after the organisers announced at the eleventh hour that The Great Khali would not turn up.
The stadium, packed to four times its capacity, erupted in anger with the crowd damaging the property and pelting stones at the convoy of Sanjana Jon, who reached the venue a bit too late for the action, which had already started.
"When we reached the stadium, I was shocked to see the security arrangements at the venue. So I along with my models returned to the hotel, and waited for things to settle down. After an hour or so we were assured of the security arrangements and we went again to the venue only to be mobbed by the angry crowd," Jon said.
"I asked the models to stay in the car and not open the door. We had brought lovely gift items for the poor girls out there, all of which were stolen," the fashion designer alleged.
Even the models complained of eve teasing, bomb scare, gunshots and misbehaviour. Khushboo, who was part of the show, said, "Someone even threatened me with a gun. It was completely maddening out there. We were left at the mercy of the hooligans.
"Sanjana and I were in the same car, and she decided not to conduct the show. We went to her place, changed and returned to our respective homes."
Another model Sanjana Bhatia who was supposed to walk the ramp said, "I heard someone shouting that there's a bomb and some people have opened fire. We left the venue."
Repeated attempts to contact the organiser of the show D S Babbar yielded no results.
Another wrestler Sangram Singh proved to be the saviour, as he tried to placate the mob even as there was no sign of the organisers. Singh, who is also the brand ambassador for Commonwealth Wrestling, said, "It was my duty to attend to the people as they were feeling cheated. I am also from Haryana and we don't leave people in the lurch. I had to chip in as even Babbar was absent."