Chaos after Metallica concert in Bangalore

The Metallica show was awesome. It gave a lot of people what they were waiting for. It even gave some folks new iPhones, MP3 players and laptops. A day later as I write this, the band’s gone, the crowd’s gone, our belongings are gone and all that remain are some horrifying memories of a night that should have been epic.

Prologue:

Most of the tickets booked on the last few weeks never got delivered to their owners. Instead, they bounced back and each fan was forced to go the venue to collect their passes. The security was so intense at the ticket counter on the day before the event that it took me 3 long hours to get hold of my pass and the queue was all of fifty people long! We thought DNA’s certainly learnt its lesson from the Delhi debacle.

What happened before the concert: Gates open at 4:30 P.M. letting in an ocean of 25000 fans. Everyone is frisked at the main entrance, where fans are told that Backpacks are not allowed inside the venue. So, the folks travelling after the concert and others who’ve brought their backpacks to keep their belongings dry in the pouring rain, have no choice but to leave it at the ‘baggage counter’. Just like the secret ingredient in Mr. Ping’s noodle soup, The ‘baggage counter’ is NOTHING! There is no baggage counter. The master plan that DNA had cooked up left us fans gaping! They are instructed to leave their bags in an open ground (completely filled with mud), stacked one over the other. Out in the rain. Nothing to keep our belongings safe from the rain OR the muck. Left with no other option, fans decide to leave their belongings in the muck counter. Now comes the best part. DNA refuses to give tokens to the owners of the property, thereby escaping from additional responsibility and also destroying any chance of cataloging the items.

So, all in all, the counter organized for the Metallica fans was an open ground right outside the main entrance. There were no records, no tokens, no security and no protection from the rain.

And this was the infrastructure setup for fans paying 2750/- per ticket.

What happened after the concert:

Having left my backpack at the muck counter and being highly unsure about its safety, me and my friends got out early from the show. What we found at the muck counter was just an awe inspiring scene. Bags were strewn around on the ground, trampled over by fans as well as locals. What was happening was unclear, but after observing for a few minutes, we noticed some random men checking backpacks looking for heavy ones and waking away with them. Worse, little kids were opening the backpacks in situ and pulling out headphones, goggles and iPods out of bags and walking away. There was not a single cop stationed at the spot. One security guard was present, taking care of about one thousand bags and dealing with about the same number of exasperated people. Now, the folks who went for the show and somehow managed to find their belongings probably already know this much. What happened next was something that only a few unfortunate folks had to experience.

What happened next:

Having unsuccessfully searched for our belongings for over 2 hours, about 100 fans realized that their stuff was just not there. We started looking at other possibilities. A couple of the fans waiting suddenly saw a guy picking up two backpacks, looking around and walking away with them. They chased him, caught him and brought him to the crowd, introducing him as the solution to our problem. Soon, angry fans spotted another guy doing the same, and caught him as well. The two gentlemen were turned over to the cops, who started shouting and swearing to the crowd about how they should not have brought their backpacks to the venue.

The cops roughened up the suspects a bit and took them to the High Grounds police station, without a word to the stranded fans. No information was given about what was to happen to them, if a case would be registered or if our testimonies would be required.

In the meantime, another fan spots a guy sneaking into an adjacent wedding hall with a backpack. A few people follow him into the hall and find a stash of 15 empty backpacks, all meticulously cleared of their contents. This is reported to the cops, who rush to the venue and instruct the hall personnel to lock down the hall from inside. Those of us who could understand Kannada made out the words “Your work’s done, now close the *ing door”, said by a cop to who seemed like the supervisor of the hall.

Confused fans who now see some hope, start milling up in front of the wedding hall. The next part is the one that made our night.

COPS WHIP OUT LATHI’s AND START BEATING UP THE CROWD. DOZENS OF PEOPLE INCLUDING GIRLS, ARE BEATEN UP AND CHASED OUT OF THE AREA. CHAOS FOLLOWS.

Fans run from the venue and those who tried to talk calmly to the higher ranking cops were beaten up more. Adding insult to injury, the two suspects who were earlier taken to the police station were brought back and released right in front of the crowd. Unscathed and free to go, they go INTO the wedding hall and lock it again. We then went to the high Grounds police station, were we were informed that a complaint could not be lodged as it was ‘late at night’. The cops stated the reason that their superior was not present, and without him, a case could not be registered.

Injury to Insult:

As the search frenzy was going on, one fan who was searching for his belongings near the main barricade suddenly started writhing in pain and spasming. It took a moment for horrified onlookers to realize what was going on. Turned out there was a live lighting wire lying on the ground, joined with electrical tape. At some point during the searching, the tape came off and the wire fell on the metal barricade. One fan who was searching for his bag stepped on the barricade and got hit by the shock. He began yelling for help. Others were shouting, "Don't touch him! You also will get a shock!". Someone with remarkable presence of mind rushed in, insulated himself on one of the wooden entrance doorways, caught the writhing fan by his collar, and pulled him away. He was lying there against a barricade, his muscles spasming involuntarily, due to the massive electric shock he had just received. He was badly shaken, but had enough sense to yell "**** the bags, guys! You wanna die?" Fifteen minutes later, another fan touched the unattended live wire and the whole cycle repeated. It was after this, that the organizers switched off the lights to the entire area. This of course, created more panic and chaos, but surely saved some serious injuries. I want to salute the person who had the guts to actually go in and save the person putting his life on the line. Respect. You probably saved his life.

So there we were, lost in the middle of the night, a few tens of thousands rupees worth of belongings cheaper, having none to go to. DNA denied any responsibility. So did the cops. And to emphasize that point, they beat us up with lathis. Who’s going to return Anuj his laptop, external hard disk and 4 months’ worth of research notes? Who will return the couple from Malaysia their flight tickets, passports and money? What will happen to the iPods and iPhones that went missing? And what of the dozens of passports and ID cards? Frankly, we don’t know.

DNA will have to pay. So will the cops.

We will pursue the case with all we have. But well, we don’t know. Spread the word. This could have been you.

Current Status:

A complaint has been lodged at the High Grounds Police station. As of yesterday, it was sent to the ACP's office for legal advice. The complaint is based on three grounds:

Gross negligence from DNA Networks for providing no security for the belongings, and for carelessly letting electric lines lie unsupervised, causing injury to concert-goers. Unnecessary violence from the side of the Bangalore Police for the Lathi Charge at the non-violent crowd. Theft case regarding the stolen belongings. PS: If any of you guys reading this were there that night and witnessed the horror and want to share something or if anyone happened to catch any snaps or videos, you can mail me at jonva.nightfall@gmail.com

Source : Facebook