05 October,2011 08:38 AM IST | | Shiva Devnath
Oshiwara cops who had raided a gay bash and detained the DJ for playing loud music have been pulled up by the DCP for not measuring the decibel level at the party to back the charges
The Mumbai police's zealous attempts at moral policing appear to have backfired, leaving it with considerable egg on its face.
After arresting and penalising over 130 homosexual men during a raid on a private party in Jogeshwari (West) two-and-a-half weeks ago, the cops in charge of the case have been pulled up for not being able to provide concrete evidence to substantiate all the charges that the arrests were made under.
Busted: The cops had detained 130 men during the raid at Spanish
Villa in Jogeshwari on September 14
The disc jockey playing at the party had been detained for having played music that went beyond the permissible decibel limit.
When the case report was submitted by the Oshiwara police to the DCP (zone IX) Pratap Dighavkar, however, the latter rapped them for failing to have measured the sound levels at the party as evidence to back their charges.
The September 14 crackdown, in course of which 130 invitees had been arrested from Spanish Villa on SV Road under section 110 of the Bombay Police Actu00a0-- on charges of public obscenity, unlawful alcohol consumption and noise pollutionu00a0-- had given rise to outrage in gay circles, with activists claiming that it was an expression of prejudice against the community.
According to sources, police inspector S Kadlak, who has been handling the case, is now being taken to task for not having bothered to measure the sound levels before detaining the DJ on charges of crossing the decibel limit.
"I have asked the investigating officer to report to me with the sound levels. Otherwise, it is not possible to book the DJ for the offence," said DCP Dighavkar.
The injunction has left clueless Oshiwara police officers baffled, claiming that it is not possible for them to note the sound levels after so many days have passed since the incident.
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