Chandigarh, October 9
Armed assailants stuck at Voodoo Lounge and Bar at Sector 26 here in the wee hours today and allegedly fired gunshots in air in a bid to attack a bouncer working with another lounge.
The glass door at the entrance to Voodoo was broken and the staff at the discotheque were left terrified after the attack, that lasted 10 minutes.
The incident occurred barely few metres away from Tao discotheque, where 15 assailants created a ruckus on September 24, smashing property. They had come armed with swords.
The police was clueless about the identity of the accused till the time of filing of this report. The Endeavour car used in the incident did not carry a number plate.
The police has registered a case of criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt and under sections of the Arms Act at the Sector-26 police station.
Though the staff and eyewitnesses told the police that the assailants fired at them, the police was yet to confirm whether gunshots were fired. The CFSL report was still awaited.
The incident occurred at 2:30 am when Sahil, a bouncer working with a lounge at Sector 9, came to Voodoo on his motorcycle to pick his friend Kamal Sharma, a bouncer with Voodoo.
Eyewitnesses said Kamal was waiting outside Voodoo when Sahil stopped his motorcycle there. Five unidentified assailants in a white Endeavour car, who were following Sahil from Sector 9, launched an attack.
The youths started to beat them up. When they retaliated, one of the assailants pulled out a gun and allegedly fired at him. Sahil and Kamal ran for their life when the attackers damaged the glass door.
The staff at Voodoo rushed outside when they heard the gunshots and the sound of glass getting broken. The assailants fled and two of them returned after a few minutes with masked faces. They again fired some gunshots and fled.
The police said it could be an incident of road rage or a case of prior enmity of the bouncers with the youths that led to the attack.
Of lawless owners and toothless cops
Chandigarh, October 9
Despite the tall claims of the Chandigarh Police in regulating late-night dance bars, these are functioning well beyond the permitted time limit of 2 am on weekends and 1 am on weekdays.
The armed attack outside Voodoo, more than half an hour beyond the permitted hours, lay bare the tall claims of the police in stepping up security outside discotheques in the city.
More importantly, the estate office had sealed the basement of the dance bar recently. Currently, a part of the dining area was being used as the dance floor.
After the clash at Tao on September 24, senior police officials had issued instructions to depute a
PCR outside all discotheques in the city and to regulate timings of discotheques found open after 2 am on weekends.
Yet, the police seemed to have learnt no lesson as no PCR vehicle was in sight when the attack took place outside Voodoo. This was the third incident of ruckus at a discotheque at late-night hours on a Saturday within a month.
While a UT inspector was suspended for creating a ruckus at Scores in Sector 8 on September 17, a son of an industrialist was among four injured when assailants stuck at Tao discotheque in Sector 26 on September 24.
With such incidents becoming increasingly common, the police seemed to be in deep slumber about the safety of the youth outside discotheques.
Moreover, discotheque owners were flouting norms and were not closing down at the prescribed timings. As per orders of the magistrate, these were supposed to be shut at 2 am on weekends, but were open well past the time limit, under the nose of the police.
This time, too, Voodoo was yet to down shutters when the incident took place. Deputy Superintendent of Police (PCR) Roshan Lal said there were 11 discotheques in the city and a PCR vehicle each was deputed outside all these.
“The PCR was stationed at Sector 26 and was near the President Hotel when the incident occurred. They reached the spot on time,” he said.
