Mishap At Singer Hariharan's Sri Lanka Concert, Several Fans Injured - News18

After AR Rahman’s Marakkuma Nenjam concert mishap in Chennai last year, playback singer Hariharan’s recent concert in Sri Lanka is making headlines due to overcrowding and poor management. The concert was held at the Jaffna Courtyard Open Air Arena in Sri Lanka, on Friday. It was initially scheduled to take place in December but was later postponed to February 9 due to bad weather. Unfortunately, many fans were allegedly injured after people started barging into the venue after breaking the barriers. The leading South movie stars like Tamannaah Bhatia, Ramba, Yogi Babu, Shweta Menon, Bala and Sandy Master also participated in the concert. Amid an unruly crowd of over one lakh people, fans reportedly rushed towards the stage after watching the performance of Tamannaah Bhatia. In the event, while it was first announced that everyone could participate for free, later a section was converted into paid seats ranging from Rs 3,000 to 25,000. Chaos ensued after the spectators in front of the free ticket zone started invading the paid seat zones. The show was halted mid-way as the fans went up on the stage equipped with cameras and speakers to cheer their favourite stars while they were performing. The security personnel and actors tried to calm the fans down as spectators started creating a ruckus. After they refused to comply with the rules and regulations of the concert the task force entered with guns and warned the fans. Reportedly, three people were injured in the confrontation and were admitted to the hospital. Along with them, 6 people were arrested and were taken to the police station. The event organisers have clarified that they are not at fault for the ruckus that happened during the concert. They said that the problems were caused by the entry of the free spectators. They added that the event was interrupted for only a short time and it continued smoothly afterwards. However, the viewers blame the negligence of the organisers for the mishap. The event was organised by actress Ramba’s husband Indra and their Northern University. While expressing his opinions on the matter, Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister and leader of Eelam People’s Democratic Party, Douglas Devananda said that such incidents will cause a setback to their expectations regarding the welfare of people.