Bank asked to seize Metallica concert organisers' account

Even as Bangalore readied itself for Metallica's performance on Sunday, the Gurgaon district administration has asked the Indian Bank there to seize the bank account of the organisers of the heavy metal band's cancelled show in Delhi, officials said on Sunday.

Metallica’s show in Gurgaon, scheduled for Friday evening, was cancelled by the organisers at the last minute even as hundreds of fans had already arrived at the Leisure Valley park venue in Sector 29.

"The show was cancelled with no prior information to the ticket buyers or the district administration - which could have caused law and order problem. While permission to organise the show was obtained, no information was given to the administration to cancel the show,” a spokesperson of the Gurgaon district administration said.

“The organisers had given a bank guarantee of Rs1 crore to the administration which was of Indian Bank branch at Bangalore. Deputy Commissioner PC Meena has sent a fax message to the bank not to allow any payment to the organisers from that account until clearance is given by Gurgaon administration,” the spokesperson said.

Four people, including a top official of the event management company, DNA Entertainment Networks, were on Saturday sent to six days' police custody after being arrested early on Saturday on charges of cheating and breach of trust.

Over 25,000 fans had gathered at the venue 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, was 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 Rs1 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 had 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 on Saturday evening. Police had demanded 15 days' custody for them, but the court agreed for six days' remand.

The four-member American band, among the most famous heavy metal bands in the world, was to Friday stage its first performance in India.