Highlights
- Four people, including a top official of the company organising the now-cancelled Metallica concert here, were sent to six days' police custody after being arrested early Saturday on charges of cheating and breach of trust, officials said.
- The administration has also seized the Rs.1 crore security money deposited by the firm.
- DNA Entertainment Networks, the event management company organising the concert, had Friday cancelled the event at the last moment.
Four people, including a top official of the company organising the now-cancelled Metallica concert here, were sent to six days' police custody after being arrested early Saturday on charges of cheating and breach of trust, officials said.
The administration has also seized the Rs.1 crore security money deposited by the firm.
DNA Entertainment Networks, the event management company organising the concert, had Friday cancelled the event at the last moment.
Over 25,000 fans had gathered at the Leisure Valley Park here in Sector 29 to watch the concert, the opener for the 'F1 Rocks' series of performances for the Formula-1 race event at Greater Noida.
Upset over the cancellation, the fans had vandalised the stage and broke down barricades. Technical equipment, too, were destroyed as they threw chairs at the LED wall.
Police registered a case against DNA Entertainment Networks on the complaint of Gurgaon-resident Chanderpal Yadav, who had paid Rs.1 lakh for 10 tickets.
Rajesh Kumar, the general manager of DNA Networks, was arrested along with team members Umesh Chinara, Ashok Singh and Savio Faleiro, Gurgaon Sector 29 Station House Officer Jagdish Prasad told IANS.
They were arrested under Section 406 (breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, Prasad said.
The four were presented in the court of magistrate Ashok Mann Saturday evening. Police had demanded 15 days' custody for them, but the court agreed for six days' remand.
Deputy Commissioner Police (east) Maheshwar Dayal said: "Some more arrests may be possible."
"The tickets for the show were priced at Rs.10,000 (first class), Rs.2,750 and Rs.1,750. The fans had come from many cities and also countries like Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Indonesia and Singapore.
"Although there was no sitting arrangement at the venue, people were charged for first, second and third class, out of an estimated 30,000 tickets sold. More than 8,000 tickets were sold for the first class itself, which means they cheated fans of more than Rs.8 crore," Dayal added.
Meanwhile, the district administration has begun the process to blacklist the company.
Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate P.C. Meena said: "We have served notice to DNA Entertainment to provide us a detailed payment refund plan in three days. We have also seized Rs.1 crore, the corporate guarantee money deposited by the company."
The four-member American band, among the most famous heavy metal bands in the world, was to Friday stage its first ever performance in India.
Metallica is slated to perform in Bangalore Sunday.