A group of policemen were allegedly assaulted by drunk men after the former group tried to stop a dance performance Kotha Satram in Kavali Rural mandal in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district on Wednesday night.

A sub-inspector, two constables and two home guards managed to escape from the crowd but were injured.

The police later booked 60 persons for organising the 'obscene' dance performance and attacking the police personnel.

SI Pulla Rao said they went to location after they received a tip-off about the dance performance a little before midnight. He then reached the spot with two constables and two home guards and found six women dancing on the stage.

Pulla Rao said that he ordered the organisers to stop the dance performance. But most of the men among the crowd were in a drunken state and soon picked up an argument with the police.

The heated exchanges turned violent as some of the drunken men assaulted a home guard Nagaraju when he climbed the stage. When the other policemen retaliated, they also were overpowered and thrashed by the crowd.

“When we questioned them, they pounced on us,” SI Pulla Rao told local reporters.

“As soon as we reached the spot, the SI led the way and we followed him. Before we knew it, as an argument broke out, many people surrounded us and started thrashing us. Five of us went to the spot and they beat all of us, with each one receiving some minor or major injuries,” another police officer present during the raid told local media.  

Obscene dance performances are illegal under Section 294 (Obscene acts and song) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). However, the law is not clear on what actions could be defined as ‘obscene’.

In a similar incident in Hyderabad on Wednesday, the city police booked 9 people for organising a belly dance performance arranged during a wedding reception at the Noori Palace Function Hall at Bandlaguda.

The relatives of the bridegroom had organised a music and dance programme. Russian dancers brought from Mumbai and Delhi had performed dances at the reception to the music played by the DJs and orchestra, according to the police and video footage of the performance that had since gone viral.

The Chandrayangutta police in this case also registered the case and arrested the organisers under sections 294 (Obscene acts and song), and also 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the IPC.