MG Road residents say they feel unsafe, owners insist they follow rules

“Cannot even head to the mall beside his house for a late-night movie,” says Captain Amarveer Singh, a resident of Heritage City, a condominium on Gurugram’s MG Road.

MG Road made its way under the scanner once again on Saturday, when three women were arrested at a club for duping a businessman of Rs5 lakh.

In the aftermath of the arrests, residents around the street infamous for the alleged illegal activities that dog it, said they felt unsafe walking down the road after sundown. They said men lingered along the street, and were accompanied by a constant group of solicitors. While lauding the efforts of the police in arresting over 200 youth involved in harassment and assault, and the identification of 50 female bar dancers with criminal histories, residents also admit that these drives needed to be more frequent to make the 2.5-km stretch safer.

Captain Amarveer Singh, a resident of Heritage City, a condominium on MG Road said that despite paying a premium for the location, he could not even head to the mall beside his house for a late-night movie.

“The mall is just metres away from our condo. But I can’t even risk going for a night show with my family. The people you see going to the clubs in the mall and passageway immediately make you feel uncomfortable and unsafe.”

Gaurav Wahi, general secretary, RWA, DLF Phase 2 said, “Last year, residents of MG Road had approached the police and also submitted a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Although some action was taken, the owners of the club found legal loopholes, which exploited and continued as before. The authorities were initially active, but soon adopted a much more lax approach. Undoubtedly, the soliciting that thrived on MG Road after 9:30pm stopped, but a dozen other illegal activities kept taking place on this stretch.”

Despite police action and information of club employees with criminal records, club owners vehemently deny any such ongoings. They assert that they do not employ any female bar dancers and have records of all people entering and exiting the premises.

Vinod Satya, owner of Empire Club at MGF Metropolitan said, “We have never hired any women dancers. Men and women come into the club out of choice and their IDs are deposited with us. We also do not permit anyone below 25 to enter the clubs.”

Satya Mohanty, owner of Queen club at MGF Metropolitan is firm that his club created no nuisance.

He said, “In the last eight years, we have never hired any female dancers, so question of records do not arise. We are also extremely strict about maintaining records and ID proofs of all who enter the club. This does not happen anywhere else in Gurugram.”