Manu Sharma's nightclub shuts down abruptly

The restaurant management says the place is shut in view of municipal corporation elections in Chandigarh on Wednesday.

Blue Ice, one of the happening bars and nightclubs in the city run by Manu Sharma - the main accused in the 1999 murder of model Jessica Lall - was abruptly shut down on Monday evening.

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The closure of the bar, restaurant and nightclub in Sector 17 - the main shopping district of Chandigarh - came just four hours after the Delhi High Court on Monday convicted Manu Sharma in the murder case.

Manu Sharma had been personally managing this nightclub, one of the several properties owned in the city by his billionaire family, for the last few months after his acquittal by a lower court in Delhi.

The nightclub had remained open during the day on Monday. This correspondent visited the place early in the evening and found over two-dozen people inside as well as several staff.

The restaurant management said the place had been shut and locked in view of municipal corporation elections in Chandigarh on Wednesday, which has been declared a dry day by local authorities.

However, the local administration had only ordered to keep the bar shut on December 20.

The nightclub was being frequented by a number of city youngsters, especially the party circle of Manu Sharma.

Other businesses of the Sharma family like hotels and a cinema hall in the city, however, function normally.