Nearly a week after an alleged altercation flared into an assault on the intervening night of 25 and 26 October, the Playboy Club issued a statement claiming the incident was a fallout of a dispute between the members and was not linked to the club.
“We regret that an isolated dispute among a few guests has been portrayed inaccurately. We follow brand and hotel safety protocols and remain committed to maintaining transparency and guest safety,” the statement read.
The statement, released on Thursday, comes amid growing public concern over safety standards and crowd control in the city’s nightlife circuit, following two reported brawls at major venues in the past month. Recent cases have also reignited discussion on women’s safety and the overall culture of late-night entertainment in Kolkata.
A woman from Tiljala had alleged that she was molested and assaulted by a group of men at the nightclub inside Hyatt Regency on the night of October 25, where she went accompanied by her husband and brother.
She had alleged the ordeal continued for 90 minutes.
In her FIR filed at Bidhannagar South police station, she named businessman Naser Khan — convicted in the 2012 Park Street rape case and released in 2020 — and his nephew Junaid Khan, accusing them of instigating the attack. The woman and her friends reportedly hid inside a liquor room for nearly 30 minutes before being rescued by police.
The club claimed the altercation occurred during closing hours and was “contained within minutes” by security personnel. The management said that CCTV footage and incident reports indicate that the disagreement was confined to the group involved and did not lead to injuries or disruption to other guests.
The club also described as “misleading and exaggerated” the accounts that appeared on social media and in certain news reports. It claimed that all relevant footage, logs and staff statements had been submitted to the authorities.
The clarification follows widespread media coverage of multiple incidents involving nightlife venues in Kolkata this month. Earlier cases, including reports of harassment and violence, have led to calls for tighter monitoring of crowd behaviour, better security measures, and clearer accountability from both management and law enforcement.
While the club’s statement seeks to clarify its version of events, questions continue to be raised about how nightlife spaces in the city are managed and monitored. Activists and patrons have pointed out that repeated incidents reflect the need for stronger enforcement of safety standards, especially for women and vulnerable guests.