Arrest warrant against folk dancer Sapna Chaudhary

Lucknow, Nov 18: A court here on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant against noted dancer Sapna Chaudhary for allegedly cancelling a dance program and not returning the money to ticket holders.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Shantanu Tyagi issued the warrant against Chaudhary, asking the police to execute it by November 22, the next date of hearing of the case. The court is slated to frame charges in the case against the dancer for which the presence of the accused in the court is necessary.

Chaudhary had earlier also moved the court to quash the FIR against her but she had been denied the relief.

The FIR against Chaudhary was registered at the Ashiyana police station on October 14, 2018 for her alleged failure to turn for a dance show at Smriti Upwan in Lucknow on October 13 that year from 3 pm to 10 pm.

Besides the dancer, the FIR also names programme organisers Junaid Ahmad, Naveen Sharma, Iwad Ali, Amit Pandey and Ratnakar Upadhyay. The ticket for the programme was sold both online and offline at the cost of Rs 300 per ticket.

Thousands of people had come to watch the performance but when Chaudhary did not turn up till 10 pm, the crowd created a ruckus at the spot. The people's money too was allegedly not returned to them.