Gujarat police reconstruct crime scene of 'drink and dancing' revelry

A day after their video clips of alleged drinking and dancing revelry during a wedding procession went viral, the Rajkot police on Monday night brought the accused persons to the same spot and reconstructed the crime scene by making them "drink" and dance similar steps.

Police said that they arrested seven persons under various sections of liquor prohibition laws on Monday. The action was taken after video clips of the group of accused were widely shared on social media networks. The videos showed the men drinking during a wedding procession and dancing to Bollywood tunes including "Pi Le Pi Le O Mere Raja... Pi Le Pi Le O Mere Jani."

In a press note, the local Bhaktinagar police station stated that it received instruction from senior officials to take immediate action. The police arrested seven accused out of eight who were identified as Hiren Parmar, Pratik Parm, Dhaval Maru, Gatiyo, Mayur Bharwad, Dharmesh Damji, Ajay alias Jabro, and Nitin Jadeja.

On Monday night, the police took the accused to the same spot where the alleged drunken revelry was shot under the Bhaktinagar police station area and ordered them to recreate the scene. Instead of an alcohol bottle, the police gave the accused a water bottle and asked them to repeat the dance moves. The video of the reconstruction of the crime scene was also going viral.

When contacted, Bhaktinagar police inspector MM Sarvaiya told DH, "Normally, we create crimes in cases of murder among others but in this case, it was done since there is very little evidence. We brought panch witnesses and recorded everything to make the case strong against the accused. We instructed them to dance exactly how they did in the videos. This was done to make the prosecution's case strong."

During the investigation, the police found the empty liquor bottle the accused alleged to have drunk from. It was found near a urinal spot. Meanwhile, the police also arrested the groom for brandishing a revolver during the procession. He is in judicial custody.

Despite strict anti-liquor laws, drunken revelry is not uncommon in the state. There have been a number of cases of consuming liquor on social occasions such as marriages and anniversaries. Incidentally, a wedding invitation card in Rajkot is also widely shared on social media for invitees not come as drunk.