MUMBAI: Sonu Nigam and his team were reportedly manhandled during an alleged brawl that took place over taking a selfie with the noted singer while he was performing at a live concert in suburban Chembur on Monday (Feb 20) night. The singer was performing at the music festial when a man, identified as Swapnil Prakash Phaterpekar, attacked him and his team while he approached the singer to take a selfie with him. A scuffle took place and at least two colleagues of Sonu Nigam fell down the stairs and received injuries. As per reports, Sonu’s guru Ghulam Mustafa Khan’s son and his close aid Rabbani Khan along with his bodyguard sustained some minor injuries in the brawl that took place at the concert.
The singer approached the police after which an FIR was registered against a man for voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful restraint and other charges in connection to the scuffle. The case has been registered under IPC sections 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) on the basis of singer Sonu Nigam’s complaint, the police told ANI.
As reported by ANI, Sonu said, “After the concert, I was coming down from stage when a man Swapnil Prakash Phaterpekar held me. Then he pushed Hari and Rabbani who came to save me. Then I fell on steps. Rabbani (the injured one, who accompanied Sonu) could have died today if there were some iron rods lying down. He was pushed in such a way… you could see in the video…Even I was about to fall. I filed a complaint so that people should think about the consequences when they try to get a selfie or pictures forcefully, there was a commotion, dhakka mukki, arrogance.”
#SonuNigam attacked by Uddhav Thackeray MLA Prakash Phaterpekar son and his goons in music event at Chembur. Sonu has been taken to the hospital nearby. pic.twitter.com/ERjIC96Ytv
— Swathi Bellam (@BellamSwathi) February 20, 2023
DCP Hemrajsingh Rajput told reporters, “After live concert, Sonu Nigam was coming down from stage when a man held him. After objection he pushed Sonu Nigam and two other men with him from the steps, one of those two men sustained injuries. Accused’s name is Swapnil Phaterpekar. The injured has been identified as Rabbani.” There has been no arrest made by the police so far.
According to officials, the incident took place in a concert in Chembur area of Mumbai when Sonu Nigam was coming down from the stage. Sources said that the accused is the son of a local MLA. “He (accused) allegedly reached out to the singer for a selfie when the scuffle broke out between him and Sonu Nigam’s security,” they said.
Commenting on reports about ‘Sonu being attacked by some men’, DCP Rajput said, “I have talked to Sonuji. Till now, we haven’t found any such evidence. The accused wanted to take a selfie or he may have tried to garner some media attention…We would investigate further to ascertain the cause.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi told ANI that local MLA’s son tried to reach out to Sonu Nigam after his performance for a selfie, but Sonu Nigam’s bodyguard stopped him not knowing his identity.
“Later there was a minor scuffle between Bodyguard and MLA’s son due to which one or two people fell from stage. Meanwhile, MLA’s daughter who is an ex-BMC corporater intervened and they were stopped. Injured were taken to hospital. So it’s not an assault,” Chaturvedi told ANI over the phone.