No more public birthday bash for Darshan at RR Nagar home

Police will not allow actor Darshan Thoogudeepa to host a public celebration of his birthday at his western Bengaluru home starting next year.

A senior police officer announced the decision two days after fans ran amok during the popular Kannada actor’s 43rd birthday celebration late on Saturday night. Many residents said they couldn’t sleep because of the rumpus. Some have filed police complaints of damages to their homes and vehicles.

A police constable posted at the event was allegedly attacked by a member of the raucous crowd as fans streamed into Ideal Homes Layout, RR Nagar, to wish the actor around 12.30 am on February 16. Devaraj D R, 26, from the Jnanabharathi police station, was trying to manage the crowd when one of the fans allegedly punched him in the nose and the right eye. He bled profusely and had to be taken to a hospital.

In a police complaint, Devaraj sought action against the fans and the organisers. He said the fans pushed each other because the organisers failed to set up barricades to demarcate the queue area in the early hours of February 16. RR Nagar police have registered a case under IPC sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty).

Ramesh B, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), decried the organisers’ failure to manage the situation. “We have received complaints of nuisance and are reviewing the CCTV footage to determine where things went wrong,” he said, adding that an investigation was also underway into the assault on the constable.

The officer made it clear that no permission would be given for a public celebration of the actor’s birthday at his RR Nagar home from next year onwards. He said that while the organisers had been taking police permission to hold the birthday celebrations for the past two years, they failed to conduct the event smoothly. “We will ask them to conduct such events at a public ground instead of disturbing the peace in the locality,” Ramesh said.

Meanwhile, many residents deleted their social media posts against the raucous celebration for fear of reprisal from Darshan’s fans. “We are deleting them because television channels showed them without blocking our names. We are scared the fans may do us more harm,” a resident said.