Gondia police crack down on loud DJs, book four operators, seize sound systems

Gondia police have launched action against DJ operators playing music at excessively high volumes. The Supreme Court and the Bombay High Court have laid down strict guidelines on DJ and loudspeaker noise levels, but police say some operators and owners ignored these rules and played DJs at ear-splitting volumes. Cases have now been registered against a total of four DJ operators who violated the rules in the areas of Gondia City police station and Ramnagar police station, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), environment protection law and noise pollution control rules.

The Superintendent of Police of Gondia had called a special meeting of all loudspeaker and DJ sound operators on September 12, ahead of the festival season, and had clearly instructed them to strictly follow the Supreme Court and High Court guidelines. Despite this, some operators disregarded the rules and raised DJ decibel levels well beyond the prescribed limit.

As a result, a case was registered against DJ owner Nandkishor Budhram Raut, 38, a resident of Shastri Ward, for playing a DJ at a public place in Chawdi Chowk, Chhota Gondia, at a volume exceeding the permitted limit. He has been booked under Sections 223, 270 and 293 of the BNS, Sections 33(1)(R)(iii), 131, 36, 134, 37, 135, 38, 136, 102 and 115 of the Maharashtra Police Act, and the environment protection law.

Similarly, Ramnagar police station has registered a case against Rakesh Bhauravu Gajbhiye, 41, of Chhota Gondia; Ankit Mahendra Nagose, 20, of Tumkheda Khurd; and Hiresh Nandlal Dharpinde, a resident of Govindpur, for causing severe noise pollution in a public place in the Vidyanagar (T.B. Toli) area, under Sections 270, 292 and 293 of the BNS and Section 5 of the Noise Pollution Rules, 2000.

Police have also seized the accused's vehicle and sound system. The police administration has appealed to all Ganesh mandals and DJ operators to strictly follow the prescribed decibel limits so that ordinary people, children and the elderly are not inconvenienced. Police said that those who ignore the directives will continue to face similarly strict legal action in future.

The entire action was carried out under the guidance of Superintendent of Police Gorakh Bhamre, Additional Superintendent of Police Abhay Dongre and Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Dineshchandra Shukla. Station house officer of Gondia City Pravin Borkute, station house officer of Ramnagar Tirupati Rane and their teams jointly carried out the action.