Chaos at A R Rahman's Sept 10 concert: Police book cases against event organiser

Chennai: Police on Friday registered cases against an official of ACTC Events, the organiser of A R Rahman's September 10 concert here, and two others, for overselling tickets, committing breach of trust and causing inconvenience to the people.

Oscar-winning music composer Rahman's concert titled 'Marakkuma Nenjam' (Does the Heart Ever Forget) was held at a private venue on East Coast Road (ECR).

"Due to chaos at the venue, many complained about the concert tickets being oversold. Following this, the Tambaram City Police took up the investigation and registered cases under IPC section 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated) against Hemanth Raja, CEO of ACTC Events, and two others," a senior police official said.

An investigation revealed that the organisers had sold tickets beyond the seating capacity of the arena. A case of cheating was also booked against them, he said.

Tambaram City Police Commissioner A Amalraj had said nearly 15,000 people beyond the expected number had converged at the venue. The crowd was "more than expected"; 25,000 chairs were arranged "but 35,000 to 40,000 people turned up," he said.

Many people took to social media to talk about their plight as they could not reach the venue on time due to severe traffic congestion on ECR, while others were critical of the way things were handled that evening and highlighted how despite spending huge sums for the tickets, they were denied access.

Rahman later said he had nothing to do with the "inconveniences" caused to people during his concert, and Hemanth shared a video on Instagram saying the composer should not be targeted on social media as "ACTC takes responsibility" for the problems faced by people on September 10.

He gave the assurance that the cost of the ticket would be refunded to those who had missed out on the concert, and apologised for the inconvenience caused to people.