Angry mobs ransack Mumbai hotels, wreck New Year's eve parties

These were New Yearrsquos Eve parties from hell for two luxury hotels in the city as irate mobs destroyed furniture cutlery and other items on the premises The crowds were miffed at the mismanagement that had led to a shortage of food and drink For the two events passes were sold both physically and onlineIn their anger over the mismanagement revellers broke bottles lights etc at Tulip StarMayhem at JuhuAt the New Yearrsquos party organised at Tulip Star Juhu regular passes were sold for Rs 2000 while VIP and VVIP passes went for Rs 4000 and Rs 8000 respectively It was supposed to be a lawn party by the pool According to police sources permissions from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation police and traffic department had been acquired by the managementPartygoers make their way through broken furniture at Tulip Star Juhu Revellers argue with policemen at the venueHowever the capacity of the lawn was below 2000 while 6000 passes had been distributed Ravi Ranjan a software engineer who along with his 18 friends had bought passes for the event said ldquoWhen we reached the place it was completely packed There was no place to enter We just had one drink after which they went out of stock Food and soft drinks too had run out The organisers were nowhere to be seenrdquoNo food drinksJignesh Bhutta a Borivli resident and a businessman had attended the party with 12 family members ldquoWe had bought passes a few days back We had even bought new clothes for the occasion The event organisers had promised us a full dinner alcohol and DJ till 5 am in the morningrdquo said BhuttaHe added ldquoWe reached at 1015 pm and saw a huge crowd People came outside and tore their passes They said everything was out of stock including food and drinks The DJ had been playing a single track and he too had escaped Angry with the mismanagement people outside took to vandalising They broke LEDs lights and whatever else they could get their hands on We were disappointed and went back homerdquoCopspeakSenior police inspector Arun Chavan of Santacruz police station said ldquoWe have lodged an FIR under section 420 of IPC against unknown accused We have taken statements of more then 50 people and are investigating the caserdquoPandemonium in PowaiThe party at Renaissance Powai was organised by Mokshiva Entertainment as per the entry pass It even promised ldquoincredible visuals light shows fireworks unlimited premium alcohol and a 10course meal buffetrdquo A DJ session was also promised According to a woman who attended the party passes were being sold for varied prices ldquoThere was no mention of the price of the pass I bought it for Rs 3500 and I saw some others buy it for Rs 5500rdquo said the attendee who didnrsquot wish to be namedThe passes for the event at Renaissance Powai did not have any price printed on themJerry Fernandes brought along a family of seven people including two children and bought entry tickets for Rs 5500 He said ldquoThis is was the first time we had decided to go for such an event We reached there after 11 but there was no place to stand it was so crowded Once we reached inside the food counter had no food drinks were out of stock and there was a lot of commotionrdquoFernandes added ldquoA young woman went to the food counter and kicked it People standing around applauded her and everyone else followed suit People were breaking whatever they could findrdquo Another attendee at the party said ldquoLights chandeliers cutlery sofas people were breaking and throwing everything It was quite a dangerous sightrdquo Police reached the spot around 12 am Fernandes regrets having bought the passes ldquoNever will I ever go for such a partyThis was the first and the last experience I just want my money backrdquo Senior police inspector YL Jadhav from Powai police station said ldquoWe have lodged a case against the Mokshiva management under sections 406 criminal breach of trust 420 cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property 336 endangering life or personal safety of others and 427 mischief causing damage of the Indian Penal Code The venue had an approximate capacity of 2000 Too many passes were sold online and thus it got overcrowded No arrests have been made yetrdquo The organisers of neither party could be reached for comment