Sameer Dattani, who?

24 March,2010 07:44 AM IST |   |  Chetan R

Police personnel posted at Chinnaswamy Stadium gate refuse entry to movie star after they fail to recognise him


Police personnel posted at Chinnaswamy Stadium gate refuse entry to movie star after they fail to recognise him

The Bangalore police embarrassed star Sameer Dattani at the Chinnaswamy Stadium yesterday by refusing him entry through Gate 1, the main entrance.

Dattani, who was invited by the event managers to cheer the crowd of fans at the venue, did not have a ticket and had probably assumed that his fame as an actor was enough to help him gain entry into the stadium.

Who is he?

However, Dattani, who was later seated in theu00a0 exclusive Diamond Box and Black Dog Pavilion, which was also the entrance for the two IPL teams playing on the day, was refused entry because the police personnel posted at the entrance did not recognise him.

Fans welcome Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad, which took some time to enter the Chinnaswamy stadium from the Karnataka State Cricket Association entrance for their match with the Chennai Super Kings. This was thanks to poor crowd management by the police, who also denied entry to actor Sameer Dattaniu00a0till the organisers intervened.


Even repeated attempts by a friend of Dattani to explain who he was did not yield any results till the event managers who had invited the star intervened.

"I don't know who he was," said BG Shankrappa, the police official on duty at the main entrance, who stopped Dattani's car. "I just did my duty. I really don't know that he was an actor."


"Dattani was one of celebrities invited by the event managers," explained Manjunath TA, one of security managers with, DNA, the company that managed the security at the main entrance.

"He was supposed to cheer the crowd as Ramya and Puneeth Rajkumar do. Though he wasn't allowed earlier, the event managers intervened and ensured his entry."

A policewoman's TVS scooty parked at the entrance added to the traffic glut.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore squad could only enter the stadium after the scooty was moved from the spot.
u00a0
Among other cars that moved extremely slowly due to the crowds and traffic was one that brought former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar into the stadium.

Fans suffer

However, it was not only celebrities who suffered due to the poor traffic management. "There was a lot of confusion," said Sunil K, one of visitors. "They are allowing some cars that do not have passes.

Other cars that have valid passes like ours are being stopped. I just can't figure out how this system works."

This reporter spoke to police as well as the organisers about the confusion. Both refused to concede that they were to blame.

Not our fault

"The crowd was huge," explained Shankrappa. "Moreover, it's the organisers, who were monitoring the vehicles. They were the ones to screen who had a parking pass and who did not.

We were just managing traffic."u00a0
Manjunath, who managed visitors at the entrance, said only cars that had valid passes were allowed to enter the stadium.

"There was no confusion. The only ones whose entry was delayed were one who had not displayed their passes prominently when the entered the stadium," said Manjunath.
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