Late night party at pub: Actors, including Darshan, celebrities appear before police

BENGALURU: Sandalwood actors including Darshan Thoogudeepa, Chikkanna, Dolly Dhananjay, Ninasam Satish, Abhishek Ambareesh, director Tarun Sudhir, music director Harikrishna and producer Rockline Venkatesh appeared before the Subramanya Nagar police today in connection with a case where they were allegedly partying all night to celebrate the success of Darshan’s movie ‘Kaatera’ at Jetlag pub near Orion Mall.

Following the visit to the police station to record their statements, Rockline Venkatesh said actor Darshan was being targeted. “It is being made into a big issue. We didn’t party after 1 am. It was late to serve food because there was no cook available at the pub that night. Many other bars are kept open even late into night, but no such notice has been issued to any of them so far. All laws apply equally to common citizens and celebrities”, he said.

“A celebrity event was organised at Orion Mall. I told everyone to have dinner at Jetlag Pub as the show got late. We didn’t party there late into night. I know who is behind this. They wanted to spoil Darshan’s image as the film ‘Kaatera’ was a hit. This is the first time that a notice has been given to customers. Don’t the police not know that other rest-o-bars are open all night?” Rockline Venkatesh questioned.

Following allegations that the party went on into the wee hours, an FIR was registered against the owner and manager of the pub. The police had issued notices to the actors to record their statements, including those who had partied that night. Today, all of them visited the Subramanya Nagar police station for questioning.

According to the police, the bar was supposed to close at 1 am, but it remained open till early morning. The Subramanya Nagar police were reportedly questioned by senior officials on how they allowed the pub to remain open all night.

The police had issued a notice to the bar owner asking them to provide CCTV footage of the night of January 3. They had also issued a notice to actor Darshan, but he did not visit the police station immediately as he was on a trip to Dubai.