4 hold up bar staff with 'gun' over Chikni Chameli

Four friends on a drinking spree with an urge to listen to popular item number Chikni Chameli threatened bar staffers at ‘gunpoint' demanding that the song be played.

Another patron had requested for an old-time ghazal, which was playing, and the four friends demanded that their favourite item number be played immediately.

However, when one of the four intoxicated patrons brandished the ‘gun' threatening to kill everyone at Vilas Bar on Jogeshwari-Andheri Link Road in the wee hours of yesterday, the owner of the establishment did the right thing - he called the police.

The Amboli police reached the bar and arrested Ravindra Mahale (42), Vivek Jadhav (30), Rupesh Pawar (28) and Ravi Raul (28).

To their surprise the cops discovered that the weapon was a realistic looking toy.

The four have been
booked for criminal intimidation. According to the police, the four accused reside in the western suburbs and are friends, who often go out drinking.

"Mahale and his friends visited the bar at around 12.30 am. He asked the staff to play Chikni Chameli. When they refused, the group began abusing them and one of them removed a toy gun and demanded that the song be played or he would kill everyone present," said H Vhatkar, senior inspector, Amboli police station.

The accused were booked yesterday under Sections 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intent) under the Indian Penal Code.
"The accused were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. They were produced before a metropolitan court and thereafter released on bail," said Vhatkar.

Item song fallout
In January this year, a New Year bash at a city bar erupted into a free-for-all at 5 am after two patrons and three off-duty policemen came to blows over which song should be sung.

While the two men, who worked for a city-based builder wanted the singer to perform Munni badnaam hui, the policemen would hear nothing other than Sheila ki jawani.u00a0