Pune: Sambhaji Brigade vandalises Balewadi stadium over beer-gate

Contents of the liquor stalls that were taken down after the Brigade vandalised them

The Sambhaji Brigade was not in high spirits at the Balewadi stadium on Saturday night, when they vandalised a liquor stall during a tennis tournament. ATP's Maharashtra Open was on at the Shree Chhatrapati Shivaji Sports Complex, better known as Balewadi stadium. However, two liquor stalls, meant only for VVIPs and VIPs, came into the eye of the storm.

Members of the Brigade entered the stadium and tore them down. Later, they uploaded a video of the incident on social media, raising questions on why liquor was being distributed in a place meant for nurturing sports. They damaged property worth R2,000. Following the incident, the organisers took down the stalls completely. Meanwhile, the Brigade members have been booked for the incident.

One of the stalls in the VVIP and VIP lounge area of Balewadi stadium

Soon, talk began on whether organisers had the permit for setting up a liquor stall. Deputy director of the Balewadi sports complex, Chandrakant Kamble, said he did not know whether permission was granted to them. Later, he said the permit has been removed and they are probing the incident.

The organisers of the tennis tournament said they'd received a no objection letter for setting up the stall in the second week of December, and authorities were aware of this. On Sunday, when education minister Vinod Tawade was asked about the permit, he said he wasn't aware about the situation and that he'd look into it.

Rs 2k
Value of the damaged property

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