PARTY DELLETED

PARTY DELLETED
On Friday midnight, airport police stopped a party organised by Dell employees in their own of fice at Domlur after complaints from r esidents in the locality. What next?
M K ASHOKA


The Mangalore bug seems to have bitten the Bangalore cops. A posse of policemen descended on an office party, seized the music system and scared the wits out of a group of young techies harmlessly unwinding on Friday night. Following the attack on a pub in Mangalore last week, partying in pubs here has become a no-no for young people. After all, you don’t want to end the night by getting beaten up by a stranger, do you?
The incident occurred around midnight at the Dell BPO unit in Domlur, off Koramangala Ring Road. “It was a part of a worldwide Dell celebration to mark the end of the previous quarter. As we did not want to visit any pub or hotel in the backdrop of the recent attack on a pub in Mangalore, we decided to have a nice time in the office premises itself. But that came to an abrupt end when the cops landed up asking us to wind up,” a Dell employee, who did not want to be identified, told Bangalore Mirror.
COPS CRACK THE WHIP
The employees, who usually chill out on Friday nights, stayed back in the office and were partying. Of course, they were grooving to loud music. But their party ran into rough weather when residents of the area complained to the cops. The police, who are yet to come out of the hangover caused by chief minister B S Yeddyurappa’s diktat against encouraging pub culture, acted with uncharacteristic swiftness in this case.
They landed at the office and demanded to be let in, but the security guards refused. “The police said they were acting on a complaint from a resident who could not sleep peacefully because of the noise in the party. We told the police that there are no residences in the area, but they were not ready to listen,” another Dell employee present at the party said.
An argument broke out between the police and the guards. After some time, the police forced their way in and seized the audio systems. A few security personnel were taken to the Airport Police Station for questioning. Though no techie was arrested, the employees were warned against holding late night parties.
Airport police inspector N M Iter said action was taken after getting complaints from the public in the locality. “The rules are very clear, no playing music after 10:30 pm. We cannot relax rules only for techies,” another police officer said and added that even live music concerts are not allowed beyond permissable hours.
The Dell staff were warned not to repeat the mistake. The inspector added that they will call in the owner of the building and question him before slapping a case of nuisance.