The gods that failed? Metallica's Delhi concert cancelled

Four organisers of Metallica's maiden concert in India were arrested today on charges of cheating, a day after the event was first deferred ostensibly due to technical hitches and then cancelled, provoking a section of over 20,000 fans to vandalise the venue.

Police arrested Rajesh Chandwani, the operational head of DNA network, the event management company, Ashok, Rajesh, Savia Faleio and Umesh under sections 406 (breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, police said.

The four were produced before duty magistrate Ashok Mann who sent them to police custody for six days.

Police argued that the organisers had sold tickets worth lakhs of rupees which have to be recovered and refunded to the ticket buyers and hence they had to be kept in their custody.

Gurgaon police commissioner SS Deshwal told PTI, "We are upset with the organisers as they did not consult the police or the district administration before announcing the suspension/cancellation of the programme. If they did, the police could have taken some precautionary measures."

DNA networks spokesperson Karuna Prithvi said, "The four arrested were responsible for the sale of tickets. DNA has their own refunding policy and they will stick to that."

An official statement from the organisers said that the four-member American band is disappointed with the cancellation and that details of the ticket refunds would be announced within the next 24 hours.

The concert, scheduled to take place at the Leisure Valley here Friday night, was initially postponed to Saturday, triggering chaos with some fans going berserk and vandalising the venue.

The concert was altogether cancelled later on as the promoters couldn't secure permission for holding it today.

"We arrived in Delhi on Friday very excited and ready to play our first show ever in India at the F1 Rocks concert. However, immediately at the end of our afternoon press conference, we were notified that there was a serious question as to whether the show could proceed with regard to the safety of the concert audience," said Metallica on their official website.

Tickets for the concert were priced at Rs1650 and Rs2750.

A statement from DNA said, "DNA Networks, and Metallica determined that there was a failure of a security barricade in front of the stage that could not be adequately repaired, they reluctantly announced the postponement of the show until Saturday."

"Unfortunately, on such short notice the promoters were unable to secure a permit for a show on Saturday, therefore DNA announced that Metallica would not be able to play in Delhi," it said.

DNA networks said it will be soon issuing a statement on refund.

"Within the next 24 hours a notification will be issued by DNA Networks regarding the process for full refunds. Metallica is deeply disappointed with this news and will continue to send updates as additional details are determined and confirmed," it said.

Hundreds of fans including from outside the National Capital Region (NCR) had gathered in large numbers at the venue several hours before the concert was scheduled to begin at 7:30pm last night.

After the news of postponement was announced on stage, disappointed fans vandalised the venue. They broke barriers, climbed onto the stage, tore posters and damaged equipment.

Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner PC Meena said the administration shot off a letter to Indian Bank in Bangalore asking it to freeze the account of the organisers.

"We had taken a bank guarantee of Rs1 crore from the organisers to grant permission for the concert," Meena said.