Sonu Nigam attacked in Mumbai after concert, singer lodges police complaint

Sonu Nigam was allegedly attacked during the Chembur Festival in Mumbai on Monday evening. The 49-year-old playback singer was reportedly coming down from the stage after a live concert, when a man, identified as Swapnil Prakash Phaterphakar, held him. When Nigam’s associates, Rabbani and Hari tried to guard the singer, the accused allegedly pushed the duo and they sustained injuries, police say. The accused, Swapnil Prakash Phaterphakar, is said to be the son of MLA Prakash Phartephakar, a member of the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena. 

A case under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt)  and 337 (causing hurt by endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered. 

Sonu Nigam arrived at the Chembur Police Station to lodge a complaint following the attack. “As per interaction with Sonu Nigam, the incident did not seem to be intentional, it was done by a single person. The volunteers then controlled the situation. Only one name in FIR. It’s just a case where the singer was held by accused maybe due to intention of having photo (sic),” said DCP Zone 6 Hemrajsingh Rajput. 

Sonu Nigam said, “After the concert, I was coming down from stage when a man, Swapnil Prakash Phaterpekar held me. Then he pushed Hari & Rabbani who came to save me. Then I fell on steps. I filed a complaint so that people should think about forcefully taking selfies & causing scuffle.” 

A video, said to be of the incident, is going viral on social media. 

#Breaking

Singer Sonu Nigam who raised his voice about Azan Loudspeakers attacked by Janab Uddhav Thackeray MLA Prakash Phaterpekar and his goons in music event at Chembur. Sonu has been taken to the hospital nearby. pic.twitter.com/32eIPQtdyM

— Sameet Thakkar (@thakkar_sameet) February 20, 2023

The video shows people pushing each other as one person falls down from a flight of stairs. 

The incident involving Sonu Nigam surfaced only days after another video going viral showed Ranbir Kapoor being taken by surprise when a fan jumped at him and hugged him from behind breaching his security. The actor was at a promotional event for his next film Tu Jhooti Main Makkar. 

Sonu Nigam, the National Award winning playback singer, recently made headlines after he said Laal Singh Chadda, the film that saw Nigam work with music director Pritam after years, was plagued by negativity. He further said the songs from the film could have become as popular as songs from 2003 film Kal Ho Na Ho.