Ahmedabad: Organisers of a Navratri garba event on Sindhu Bhavan Road have accused a man of printing and selling unauthorised entry passes, allowing more people into the venue than the organisers had budgeted for. A complaint was filed with Sarkhej police on Sunday by the organiser, Drupad Gandhi, alleging cheating and breach of trust.
Gandhi and his partners, Dhirajsinh Rathod and Daksha Acharya, had obtained the necessary permissions to organise the 10-day event on Auda land, according to the complaint. They had ordered 80,000 passes, at 8,000 per day, in different colours and designs for the event. On Oct 16, the organisers changed the design and colours of the passes and arranged for a fresh batch to be printed. On Oct 17, the organisers introduced stickers on the previously printed passes as an additional verification measure.
That night, at around 10pm, Gandhi and his partners found visitors carrying passes bearing the old design, which had not been released for sale. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Ahmedabad | Silver Rate in Ahmedabad | Bank Holidays in Ahmedabad | Public Holidays in Ahmedabad | Ahmedabad AQI | Weather in Ahmedabad | Petrol Price in Ahmedabad | Diesel Price in Ahmedabad | CNG Price in Ahmedabad | LPG Price in Ahmedabad Stay updated with the latest Ahmedabad news.
Other visitors were also found carrying passes of the same design, according to the complaint. Several visitors allegedly arrived with passes lacking the stickers and said they had bought them from unidentified persons. The organisers began suspecting foul play after their team noticed unusually large crowds over three consecutive days, with the number of people arriving at the venue appearing higher than the number of passes issued through their two box offices. They suspected that additional passes were being circulated outside their authorised distribution system. When organisers questioned two women about the source of the passes, the women allegedly named Vipul Bhimani as their supplier. Download the TOI App.
The organisers suspected that Bhimani had obtained access to the earlier pass design and arranged for additional copies to be printed and sold to garba-goers.