Bollywood playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya has landed in trouble, with the Oshiwara Police booking him on charges of molestation made against him by a 34-year-old woman. Acting on a complaint lodged with them by the aggrieved woman that Abhijeet allegedly touched her inappropriately and abused her during a Dussehra concert at Andheri (West), the Oshiwara Police on Thursday night booked the renowned singer under Sections 354 (a) (molestation) 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
Fifty-six-year-old Abhijeet heads the lokhandwala Sarvajanik Durgautsov Samiti, which organises the big budget Durga Puja celebrations at Andheri (West). Given that the celebrities from Bollywood and Tollygunge make it a point to attend the Dussehra festivities here every year, the Durga puja celebrations organised by the lokhandwala Samiti are a big draw.
The complaint that the ‘victim’ woman has lodged against Abhijeet related to the incident that allegedly took place during a concert of singer Kailash Kher earlier this week.
The “victim” woman claimed the incident happened when she got up from her seat and stood to watch Kher’s concert. “There was a huge crowd. I left my seat and stood to watch the concert. It was then Abhijeet touched me inappropriately. I objected to his misconduct and asked the police officials present there to take me the Police Station so that I can lodge a complaint against the singer. Abhijeet threatened me with serious consequences if I were to lodge a complaint with the police.” Denying the molestation charge against him, Abhijeet said he had been booked on a “trumped up” charge.
Talking to mediapersons here, Abhijeet said: “I don’t know who she is. Such an incident is not possible in front of a crowd of 50,000 people. My entire family was there. Saying ‘hello’ or ‘hi’ to anyone does not amount to molestation. She didn’t go to the Police Station. The police took her there.”
Alleging that the woman heaped abuses on him, Abhijeet said: “I was there, my family was there, my in-laws were there. She was extremely abusive, our volunteers took her out.”
Elaborating on the incident, Abhijeet said: “(During the Dussehra celebration), the auditorium (where the concert is held) opens anywhere from 7.30 pm to 8 pm. The auditorium gets filled up in half an hour. The strict instruction that had been given to the security personnel was that the gate be closed once the auditorium is full. Once the auditorium is full, she came inside and make a scene that you have not got a seat despite having a pass. She kept heaping abuses at me and other organisers in public. Our female volunteers took her out. later, she was taken to the Police Station. It is normal that whenever some creates a scene during the Durga Puja celebrations, we throw them out.”
“Yes it’s sabotage, our security agency and admin who are handling the crowd well... Can’t make every 1 happy,” the singer tweeted. The relevant CCTV footage of the concert, which was aired by the television channels, showed that the woman complainant, with no seat to occupy, showed moving to the front row through seated audiences. She was seen going towards the stage with a pass in hand. “I had not even spoken to the woman concerned. How could I have molested her as she has allegedIJ” Abhijeet said.