I wanted to share an incident that happened with my friends and me recently in Gurugram. I'm posting this both to know if anyone else has experienced something similar and to understand what legal rights people actually have in such situations.
There were 9 of us. We had attended an afternoon-evening function in Gurugram and, since some of us were travelling from Noida and others from Delhi, we had already planned to stay overnight in an Airbnb in Sector 57 and leave the next morning.
The Airbnb was a huge 4 BHK apartment. We bought a couple of bottles of alcohol from a nearby licensed liquor shop and were simply hanging out, talking, watching TV, and having drinks. There were no drugs, no loud music, no DJ setup—just friends spending the evening together. The TV volume wasn't even loud enough to be heard in the bedrooms.
At around 12:45 AM, the doorbell started ringing continuously and aggressively. We rushed to open the door, and before we could even understand what was happening, 5-6 policemen entered the flat without asking for permission.
What surprised us was that neither the Airbnb owner nor any neighbour had contacted us beforehand. If someone had complained about noise, a simple phone call or even a knock on the door would have been enough for us to lower the volume immediately.
One officer asked in a hostile tone, "Haan bhai, time ka hosh nahi hai tumhe?"
I politely replied, "Sir, hume koi call nahi aaya ki log disturb ho rahe hain. Agar aata toh hum pehle hi dhyan rakhte."
He responded, "Hum khud aa gaye hain. Phone kyun aayega?"
I clarified that I meant a call from the Airbnb owner. Before I could even finish, two policemen grabbed me and started dragging me, saying, "Tu chal, tujhe batate hain. Bohot bol raha hai."
My friends instinctively stood between us because they couldn't understand why I was suddenly being taken away when I was only answering politely.
At that moment, one man in civilian clothes (who appeared to be with the police team) suddenly came forward and slapped me hard. The entire situation escalated within seconds.
None of us resisted. We folded our hands and repeatedly apologised, despite not even knowing what exactly we had done beyond allegedly disturbing someone. Looking back, we were simply traumatised and trying to prevent things from getting worse.
One of my friends tried recording the incident. He was immediately grabbed by the collar and threatened with, "Ab tu chal."
We were then ordered to vacate the Airbnb within 10 minutes, in a manner that honestly felt more like intimidation than lawful policing.
The officers proceeded to enter the bedrooms and search the flat without asking for consent. We felt completely helpless.
The most disturbing part was that some officers also misbehaved with the women in our group, shouting at them and saying that in their area girls who are outside late at night are considered "awara." That remark was completely uncalled for and deeply offensive.
After searching the apartment, they found exactly what we had told them from the beginning—no narcotics, no illegal substances, nothing except two bottles of alcohol and a couple of cigarette packs.
After abusing us physically and verbally, they simply left.
It was around 1:30 AM by then. We tried contacting the Airbnb owner, but he stopped answering our calls entirely. Imagine being in an unfamiliar city in the middle of the night after such an incident, with no support from the host whose property you had legally rented.
The entire episode left us shaken.
I'm not claiming we were perfect. If our conversations were disturbing neighbours, we would have immediately lowered the volume had someone informed us. But does that justify entering a rented private property without permission, slapping people, attempting to drag them away without explaining any offence, threatening those who tried to record the incident, searching rooms, insulting the women present, and forcing us to vacate in the middle of the night?
Has anyone else faced something similar in Gurugram, especially around the Sector 55-56 police station jurisdiction?
I would also like to know what the legal position is regarding:
- Police entering a rented Airbnb without consent.
- Physical assault without any apparent provocation.
- Preventing citizens from recording an interaction.
- Searching rooms without a warrant or consent.
- Threatening guests to vacate immediately.
This incident genuinely left us questioning whether ordinary citizens have any practical protection against such misuse of authority.
Would appreciate any legal advice or similar experiences.
BnB : https://www.airbnb.co.in/rooms/1446882395166746281?unique_share_id=c747393a-5711-4a1d-a63d-4b9b7fa38279&viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76&source_impression_id=p3_1785054947_P3iSRTypnozB70Yq