A boy who had come all the way from Naihati to watch the show leaves as police stand guard at Netaji Indoor Stadium. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Calcutta, June 23: When the hope of seeing Salman Khan was dashed, handcuffs stared at the men who had promised to bring the Bollywood star on stage.

Four employees of Flash Forward Communications, which had organised the Hope-2007 show at Netaji Indoor Stadium this evening, were arrested for duping people by selling tickets despite Salman and the rest of the stars not turning up.

Salman, Diya Mirza and Johnny Lever refused to participate in the show, saying the organisers had not followed the terms and conditions of their agreement, police said.

Flash Forward Communications, which had organised the programme for an NGO, was told to refund those who had bought tickets. But many people refused the refund and demanded punishment for the organisers for having cheated them.

“We found that the artistes would not perform because they had not been paid. So we had no option but to cancel the programme,” said Pradip Chatterjee, the deputy commissioner of police, headquarters.

“I spoke to Salman Khan this morning and he confirmed that he would not come. He said the organisers had not fulfilled their commitments,” said city detective chief Gyanwant Singh.

Ajay Kumar, the deputy commissioner of police, south division, spoke to Mirza, who echoed Salman. Lever could not be contacted.

The police then arrested Gautam Chatterjee, Uttam Kundu, Ashoke Panja and Pranab Dey.

“We thought we would pay (the stars) by this evening from the sale of tickets. But that did not happen,” Gautam said.