Night club terror

BAR patrons at a swish establishment - Cloud 9 Emirates Restaurant and Pub in Bulawayo, last Saturday were literally left gasping for air, after an unidentified gas substance was discharged in the premises by hooligans, Sunday Life can reveal.

The unidentified substance, said patrons, was suffocating, made them vomit and was irritating to the eyes. It is alleged the incident is linked to the ongoing ownership wrangle of the nightclub, between the principal Indian investor — Uathalil Sasi Samanhraj and a manager at an upmarket restaurant — Norman Kaviza, but no one has evidence on who was behind the act.

Cloud Nine was established in January this year, becoming one of the most preferred hangout spots in the city. A patron, who requested anonymity, said the incident occurred shortly after 10pm last Saturday, where the gas substance engulfed the pub within a matter of seconds sending the clientele of about 70 into frenzy.

"We were gasping for air, with our eyes literally popping out of their sockets. We didn't know what was going on but all of a sudden we were suffocating and other people were vomiting. It happened in a matter of seconds. There were some dodgy characters, which I suspect discharged the gas into the pub and a few minutes later people were scurrying around," said the patron.

Bulawayo Metropolitan Province police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango confirmed the incident, adding that they were still investigating the issue.

"I can confirm that there was such an incident that occurred on Saturday night. We are still investigating the matter.

If there is anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the culprits they shouldn't hesitate to approach the police. We are also trying to figure out what the gas substance used was," said inspector Simango.

Uathalil Sasi Samanhraj, warmly referred to as Raj told Sunday Life that he highly suspected the incident was linked to the ownership wrangle at the club.

"This issue was being handled legally but now for this to happen it's just deplorable. On the night of the incident we had DJs from Harare playing at the pub and I have had to settle their bill from my own pocket instead from the pub's coffers. To my understanding the police have questioned a few individuals on the matter and are still carrying out investigations. On the night of the incident some guys came to the bar looking rather edgy or nervous, if you may add and asking a lot of questions. They wanted to know who was in the bar, with reference to the management," he said.

Raj said only two of the suspects (names supplied) entered the bar, where he spoke to one of them questioning him about the whereabouts of a laptop with essential information and music belonging to Cloud Nine.

"They got in while the security bouncer wasn't manning the door. I was immediately told that they were in the bar and I asked them what they wanted. To which they responded they wanted to see one of the general hands. While I was talking to one of them in my office I had no idea what the other one was up to. Two minutes after the other suspect left my office that is when the gas was discharged and they took off in a red vehicle. We reported the matter to the police who attended to the scene but could not identify the substance," he said.

Raj revealed that he and Kaviza had a fall out almost two months ago, after he suspected that Kaviza was in a bid to muscle him out of the business, and later on, Kaviza demanded $20 000 to be bought off the business.

"It dates back to some few weeks. I had my passport and visa messed up, perhaps in a bid to have me deported so that I lose out on the whole business. I was told to stay in the house and even not switch on the lights as immigration officials wanted to deport me. I was however, surprised why I was to be deported as I just wanted to extend my stay in Zimbabwe.

"Eventually a friend called me and told me that it was all just a hoax and a ploy to try and scare me out of the country. So we planned on how to get my passport back. This is when my friend called the guy who had my passport and had said was organising an extension and visa for me, to tell him that I wanted to return to India as there was an emergency back home. He then returned my passport, where he told me all had been sorted but my sixth sense told me something was amiss. That is when I discovered that my documents had been tampered with and I immediately reported the matter to the police," said Raj.

The case where Raj's passport was tampered with is still under investigation and is being handled by the courts.

According to court documents Kaviza allegedly conspired with one Simbarashe Mutsvanga, a former immigration officer, and affixed a fake visa on his passport. The move could have seen him deported and lose out on his $70 000 plus investment. Both Kaviza and Mutsvanga have since appeared in court facing the charge of fraud.

Raj told Sunday Life that he met Kaviza at an upmarket restaurant in October 2014, where he allegedly misrepresented himself as a director of the restaurant.

"I thought it would have been a good idea to partner with him in a business venture. I then asked him to register the company and made him a director, where I gave him 20 percent shares. However, since all the misunderstandings and so forth I discovered that he drew up fake documents and forged a lease of agreement between himself and the owner of the building leaving me out," claimed Raj.

Efforts to get a comment from Kaviza were fruitless as he said he was busy with his lawyers and the owner of the building, which houses Cloud Nine.

"Send me a message so that I can call you back and we can meet up privately to discuss the issue. I am in a meeting right now with my lawyer and the owner of the building," he said on Thursday evening.

He could not be reached for comment until the time of going to press.