Kunal Purohit 
Mumbai: In a stunning new revelation, an investigation by The Wire has found that Mumbai police officials had accompanied the mob of Shiv Sena leaders that trashed Mumbai’s ‘The Habitat’ comedy club two weeks ago.
The Wire’s investigation, which includes a review of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage from the venue, reveals a chilling scene: as vandals trashed the club, police officers stood idly by, making no attempt to stop the violence. The footage is currently in the custody of the Khar Police, which is reviewing it as part of their investigation into the violence, sources said.
The Wire also interviewed two eyewitnesses, who were present during the episode, who confirmed that they saw at least eight to ten police officials inside and outside the club, looking on as the mob attacked it. The eyewitnesses feared retribution and hence, chose for their identities to not be revealed publicly. While The Wire cannot authenticate the footage, the two eyewitnesses corroborated what the footage demonstrates.
The eyewitnesses also confirmed that a police van was present outside the hotel while the mob damaged the club as well as the entrance of the Unicontinental hotel, where the club is located. When they were done, the police allowed them to walk away chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans, eyewitnesses added.
One eyewitness even told The Wire that they saw two policemen standing on the road metres away from the venue “calmly sipping chai”, while the mob was ransacking the Habitat. The eyewitness said they did not know “whether the cops were there to protect us or back the mob up”.
Another eyewitness said they remembered the cops standing “helplessly”.
“The cops did not intervene at any stage at all,” the second eyewitness told The Wire. “I don’t know if that is because they were not equipped to intervene, or if they did not want to.”
The Wire has sent multiple messages to Mumbai Police Joint Commissioner (Law & Order) Satyanarayan Chaudhary as well as the local Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 9) Dixit Gedam for their response to these findings.
This new evidence raises serious questions about the police response to the incident, particularly given the political connections at play. The Shiv Sena, a crucial ally in both the Maharashtra state government and the Narendra Modi-led Union government, has been directly linked to the mob that attacked the club. Sena chief Eknath Shinde, Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister, had justified the violence by calling it a “reaction” to an action. The footage and eyewitness accounts contradict what the police had said in its FIR against the mob, that police officials had repeatedly tried to stop the mob.
On March 23, a mob consisting of members of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction ransacked the premises of the club in protest against comic Kunal Kamra’s show that featured jokes against Shinde. The show was recorded at the Habitat weeks ago.
Though the Mumbai police quickly filed an FIR against Kamra, it took them hours to file one against the 19 members of the mob. They arrested only 12, releasing them a few hours later.
Kamra faces an FIR under sections 353 (1)(b), 353 (2) and 356 (2), under which the comic could face imprisonment up to three years or a fine or both if convicted, while the FIR against the mob was under sections 333, 132, 189 (2)(3), 191 among others, which would attract a maximum jail term of 7 years or a fine or both.
What the footage shows: Cops look on, mob unbothered
CCTV footage reveals that at least one policeman walked into the club with the mob and was present even before the mob started vandalising the venue. At least two others, including one inspector, are seen going in and out of the venue while the mob was still trashing it.
What the footage demonstrates and eyewitnesses confirmed is that none of the policemen ever intervened through the entire bout of violence. None of them tried to stop the Shiv Sena activists from vandalising the property, nor did they try to protect the audience members.
The CCTV footage paints a stark picture of the police’s failure to act. In one instance, a head constable, who appears in the footage alongside the mob, watches as they terrorise the staff and audience, throwing chairs, breaking lights, and vandalising the venue. Despite being in a position to intervene, the constable does nothing, even sneaking out of the room as the violence escalates.
Eyewitnesses said that the police officials were so passive that even as the mob attacked the venue, they were confused about their stance. “We didn’t know if the police were there to stop the mob or whether they were accompanying the mob’s leaders,” said one of the eyewitnesses.
The CCTV cameras inside the performance space show the mob entering the premises at 10:23 pm, wearing saffron scarves bearing the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction’s election symbol, the bow and arrow.
Just after a handful of the vandals enter, a policeman in uniform walks in. While his name badge is not visible, the insignia on his shoulders indicates he is a head constable. One of the men hurled a chair on the ground and other members of the mob started gesturing to the audience to leave. The footage shows the men going to the audience members, pointing to the door repeatedly. The audience, which included elderly and middle-aged women, started rushing out.
Even then, the head constable did not react.
Once the audience had fled, the violence erupted into a frenzy. A handful of mob members began hurling chairs across the room, while others wielded them as weapons, smashing lights and destroying the equipment hanging from the ceiling. Tables were overturned and flung with reckless abandon. The mob grew larger, emboldened by the complete absence of resistance. Instead of intervening, the head constable present in the room quietly sneaked out, vanishing from the scene, leaving the chaos to unfold unchecked.
As the destruction continued, another police official entered the club, yet did nothing to stop the onslaught. The mob carried on – throwing chairs, breaking lights, and even using a chair to smash a CCTV camera. The officer, seemingly indifferent to the wreckage around him, stood by, doing absolutely nothing.
Meanwhile, outside the Unicontinental hotel, CCTV footage shows a new group of vandals entering the premises. Among them is Shiv Sena leader Rahool Kanal, who walked through the doors. Immediately, the mob began attacking the hotel’s entrance and reception lobby. As they teared through the property, two police officers strolled out of the hotel, not to stop the mob, but to observe as the damage escalated.
Despite the growing destruction, a tall, lanky police officer – easily identifiable by his inspector’s cap – entered the lobby. But rather than taking control of the situation, he simply watched as a vandal smashed the glass door of a fridge with a potted plant, and another hurled objects at the reception’s computers.
The footage shows the officer, baton in hand, standing motionless, offering no intervention. Kanal continues to wander about, accompanied by his supporters, while the inspector ultimately retreats from the scene.
There is a brief hiatus, where all the vandals are summoned outside the hotel and they stand around Kanal, with the cops looking on in the background. A few seconds later, all of them rush back into the Unicontinental and the vandalism continues, this time with even greater enthusiasm. Men start using sticks to damage glass shelves and counters, another glass cooler is attacked. The cops look on.
A few minutes later, the place entirely trashed. A head constable appears again and tries to nudge the vandals to leave. He doesn’t use any force, he doesn’t even carry a baton or a lathi. He slowly walks behind them, gently gestures towards the door and the vandals start walking out.
Even though the policemen are waiting at the entrance, none of them try to apprehend the vandals.
What eyewitnesses say: ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans, triumphant mob
Both eyewitnesses, who saw the mob entering as well as exiting the venue, said the vandals looked “triumphant”, while the police remained passive spectators.
Eyewitness one said they heard the vandals coming out and chanting slogans. “They kept chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’, over and over again, as soon as they came out of the hotel,” they said. “This is when it felt so scary: it felt like they had conquered something, except there were policemen and dozens of onlookers looking and nobody could do anything,” they added.
According to the same eyewitness, there were at least 5-8 cops outside at this point, along with a police van parked at the site. “I saw two police officials standing on the road at a chai stall just metres away from the venue, sipping chai calmly, while the vandals were still inside, carrying out the vandalism,” the eyewitness told The Wire.
The same eyewitness said that they feared for their safety and their life, when they saw the mob enter the venue. “If any of us had protested or spoken up against the mob, we would have been hurt, that is for sure,” the eyewitness added. Yet, they did not approach the police. “How do you trust the police when you can see they are doing nothing at all to stop the mob?”
The Khar Police station is a four-minute drive or a seven-minute walk from the Unicontinental. “So, if the police wanted to stop the mob, they could have easily called for more reinforcements from the police station and stopped the mob,” the eyewitness added.
The other eyewitness recalled seeing the mob leaving the venue, while the police just looked on.
Seeing them look on impassively, other audience members also did not dare stand up to the mob, the eyewitness said.
“I overheard an audience member telling her friend who wanted to shoot videos of the mob: tu ban ja krantikaari, mujhe meri haddiyan pyaar hai (You go ahead and become a revolutionary if you want. I want my bones intact).”
Kunal Purohit is an independent journalist and the author of H-Pop: The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars.