The Gurgaon police arrested four employees, including a top rung official, of the Metallica concert organiser, DNA Networks, early on Saturday on charges of cheating and breach of trust in connection with the cancellation of a rock concert
featuring the US heavy-metal band. The four were presented in the court of magistrate Ashok Mann on Saturday and were sent to six days’ police custody.
The administration has also seized `1 crore security money deposited by the firm for the show.
A police case was registered after Gurgaon resident Chanderpal Yadav, who had booked 10 tickets for `1 lakh, lodged a complaint against DNA Networks.
Rajesh Kumar, the general manager of DNA Networks, was held along with team members Umesh Chinara, Ashok Singh and Savio Faleiro, Gurgaon Sector 29 SHO Jagdish Prasad said, reports IANS.
They were arrested under Section 406 (breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, Mr Prasad said.
DNA Networks had cancelled the event at the last moment due to poor preparation after which enraged Metallica fans broke the barricades and even smashed expensive stage equipment.
The US-based band Metallica also issued an online statement to clarify their position and the train of events that led to the cancellation of the show. The statement read, “Immediately at the end of our afternoon press conference at a hotel, we were notified that there was a serious question as to whether the show could proceed with regard to the safety of the concert audience. Once we, along with DNA, determined that there was a failure of a security barricade in front of the stage that could not be adequately repaired, the promoter reluctantly announced the postponement of the show until Saturday.”
It further read that “on such short notice the promoters were unable to secure a permit for a show on Saturday.”
The statement read that Metallica is disappointed for the cancellation of gig, saying, “We are deeply disappointed with this news as we were looking forward to our first experience in India as much as you guys were.”
In a development related to this, DNA Networks on Saturday detailed their refund policy to the relief of more than 25,000 people who had purchased tickets for the mega show.
It said that ticket owners can claim the refund in three ways. For those who booked tickets online, they need to return the original ticket(s) with Order ID number by courier service to the Ticketgenie office, the portal from where bookings were done. The courier service charges will be borne by the customer. Those who bought tickets from retail outlets will need to surrender original tickets with booking ID number and collect cash refund.
The corporate clients are also required to courier the tickets and their money will be refunded through cheque/RTGS transfer, whichever is applicable in their case.