Singer Sonu Nigam and his team were manhandled by Swapnil Phatarpekar, the son of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) MLA Prakash Phatarpekar, at a music event in Chembur late Monday evening.
Nigam told TOI, “I am okay, but my brother (friend Rabbani Khan) is hurt. And my bodyguard is hurt.” Rabbani is the son of the late guru of Indian classical music Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan whose students include the who’s who of playback singing from Lata Mangeshkar to A Hariharan and Nigam himself. The incident, which was captured on camera, took place after Swapnil Phatarpekar, son of MLA Phatarpekar, insisted on taking a selfie with the singer. Nigam’s team did not recognise him. This led to a scuffle as Swapnil and his supporters manhandled Nigam and his team as the singer was leaving the stage.
A video of the incident went viral. The stage was dimly lit and one person is seen pushing another off the stage. Rabbani told TOI, “The attack was sudden and without provocation. This person whom we do not know, approached Sonuji for a selfie. When his bodyguard resisted, the man pushed him off the stage. Then he came towards Sonu. As Sonuji caught my hand, the attacker threw me off stage too. I fell from a height of eight feet. I landed on my spine.”
Rabbani was treated as an outpatient at a local Chembur hospital and discharged. “My X-ray reports are awaited. The pain is immense and I hope there are no internal injuries,” he said.
Rabbani’s brother Murtuza, the eldest son of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, was upset by the attack. He said, “This should not happen with artistes. They are not involved in politics. It could have been worse. I am thankful to the Almighty that my brother is okay.” MLA Phatarpekar did not answer calls or messages seeking comment. Swapnil has previously been involved in controversy. In April 2022, the BJP had alleged that he was behind a midnight incident of stone pelting after their ‘Pol Khol’ rathyatra against corruption.
Chembur police confirmed the incident and were verifying the sequence of events and recording statements. They later began the process of registering an offence against the MLA’s son and his supporters.
