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Five held in Lko after club brawl; police seek licence cancellation
Five men were arrested after a brawl at a Lucknow club left two injured; police are seeking licence cancellation over alleged operating and record-keeping violations.
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Five men were arrested following a brawl at a club in Vibhuti Khand, where a man suffered head injuries. After he identified his assaulters, he was allegedly assaulted again in front of police personnel.
Police said they were preparing a report seeking cancellation of the club’s licence for submission to the Uttar Pradesh excise department.
A video of the incident, which took place in the wee hours of October 27, has also surfaced online, showing police personnel hitting men at the venue. Police maintained that force was used after those involved refused to stop fighting and allegedly grabbed constables and threatened them.
Summit Building police outpost in-charge Hariom Patel said he and other personnel were conducting routine checks after midnight when they found the club operating beyond its permitted hours, with the DJ still playing.
“Rajat Gupta, aged around 28, approached us with a head injury and said some men had beaten him inside the club. When he identified them, they started assaulting him and his friends again in front of us,” Patel said. According to the police statement, around 12 to 15 people were involved in the disturbance, and two were found injured.
Responding to the video, Patel said police initially tried to separate the groups and break up the fight. “They grabbed our constables and threatened to get them suspended. They were drunk and would not stop despite repeated intervention,” he said. Police described the force used as the minimum necessary to bring the situation under control.
Those arrested were Gupta and Shashwat Pandey from one group, and Akhand Singh, Abhay Pratap Singh and Akash Singh from the other. Preventive proceedings were initiated against them under sections 170, 126 and 135 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
Patel said the five were aged approximately 25 to 30. Two were from Lakhimpur Kheri, two from Gorakhpur and one from Lucknow’s Viram Khand.
The inquiry also found gaps in the club’s surveillance and entry records. Patel said its CCTV cameras were not functioning, leaving police without footage of the initial assault in which Gupta suffered the head injury.
The names of those identified as the alleged attackers were also missing from the entry register, he said. Police took possession of the digital video recorder for technical examination. According to the police statement, the club manager could not clearly explain why the cameras were not working. Patel said a report seeking cancellation of the club’s licence was being prepared for the excise department.
