Singh was the one among 18 persons who were picked from the Platinum Disco on the premises of Yak & Yeti Hotel at Durbarmarg at 1:30 a.m. Eight hours after the sweeping raid at the disco, the police released the group led by Singh after getting them to sign a paper in which they promised not to repeat the offense. [break]
Police claimed Singh and his dance-mates allegedly violated the local government´s rule that prohibits gathering publicly after 12 pm for entertainment or any other purpose without appropriate prior permission.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Ramesh Kharel, chief of Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu (MPRK), admitted detention of the disco-goers. He said that the detainees were released after they furnished a written apology and signed a paper not to commit the same offense in future.
Asked about Singh, Kharel said that he did not get into the personal status of any detainee. He said he was concerned only about maintaining law and order.
Singh was kept in normal detention cell throughout the night and remained handcuffed till 9 am when all detainees were released together.
Singh, who also owns Casino Royal at Yak & Yeti Hotel, was found waltzing with a girl, who was one of the six girls arrested together, when an MPRK raid squad entered the disco.According to the police, those arrested with Singh were Melina Dangal, Sushmita Dhakal Koirala, Kumari Gurung, Lila Lama, Chhela Lama, Sheetal Rai, Indradhoj Karki, Basudev Bhatta, Raj Kumar Singh, Surya Gurung, Sanjaya Rayamajhi, Ratna Lama, Manohar Koirala, Gautam Singh, Bijaya Shrestha, Mohammed Najamin and Amir Maharjan.
According to a member of the raid squad who sought anonymity for lacking authority to speak on record, the police finally stormed the disco after Singh´s group repeatedly ignored requests by the officials of Durbarmarg Police to leave the place.
“They really pestered us. Once we made them leave the Platinum disco, they would switch to Insomnia Disco nearby. It is an old story,” he said, adding, “The whole group was weird and never obeyed us because they had Singh with them.”
Singh did not respond to myrepublica.com´s repeated attempts to contact him.
The disco management, however, declining to be quoted on record, claimed that the police broke into a gathering of the staffers of the disco and the casino.
“We were not doing anything as alleged by the police,” said a senior staff, who even claimed that the disco, being a facility of a five-star hotel, could operate round the clock.
Chief Administration Officer (DAO) of Kathmandu Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said no night-time business that serves Nepali nationals is allowed to operate after midnight.
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