Jamaica DJ Says He Was Beaten, Called Slurs Over $1,500 Wedding Bill

A disagreement over an unpaid $1,500 bill for DJ equipment and services at a pre-wedding celebration in Jamaica, Queens turned violent this month, according to the DJ himself, who says he was surrounded, beaten, and hit with anti-Hindu slurs by as many as a dozen people. New York police arrested one man, Jami Chowdhury, on Wednesday in connection with the alleged assault, and a judge has since released him on bail ahead of a September 15 court date.

The dispute traces back to a Gaye Holud ceremony — a Bengali pre-wedding tradition in which turmeric paste is ceremonially applied to the couple ahead of their marriage, typically alongside music, catering, and large family gatherings, as Pernia's Pop Up Shop explains of the custom observed across both Muslim and Hindu Bengali communities. The celebration, held August 16 for Chowdhury's son at a party hall in Jamaica, Queens, is where DJ Anup Kumar Esh says he was hired to provide sound equipment and services for an agreed fee of $1,500, according to The Financial Express. Esh alleges that after the event, organizers offered him only $400, and what followed was a physical assault by Chowdhury and several others.

Esh says he was subjected to religious abuse during the altercation and believes he was targeted in part because he is Hindu and outspoken in support of his community, per the same outlet's report. He has accused those involved of making religiously offensive remarks toward him, and he alleges he was threatened and intimidated, including a threat on his life as he attempted to call 911.

Police and Paramedics Responded to Emergency Call

Private investigator Shakti Gupta told bdnews24.com that both NYPD officers and paramedics were dispatched directly to the party hall following the emergency call reporting a multi-person assault. Esh was taken to the hospital with injuries and received medical attention, according to the report. He was allegedly assaulted by 10 to 12 people in total, though only Chowdhury has been arrested so far.

“This is my means of earning a living,” Esh said, describing why the unpaid fee mattered so much to him. He was more blunt about the assault itself: “I was assaulted unjustly, and am I not even going to get justice for that?”

Party halls and commercial venues in central Jamaica, including those along major commercial strips near Jamaica Avenue, fall under the jurisdiction of the NYPD's 103rd Precinct, which routinely handles emergency calls from the neighborhood's event spaces.

Chowdhury Ordered Back to Court September 15

Chowdhury was produced before a court by the Queens District Attorney's Office and was ordered to appear at Queens Criminal Court on September 15. That courthouse, located at 125-01 Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens, serves as the primary venue for misdemeanor arraignments and criminal hearings across Queens County. Efforts to reach Chowdhury for comment on the allegations were unsuccessful, per the same account.

Under New York Penal Law § 120.00, assault in the third degree is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail or three years of probation. It is not yet clear whether prosecutors or the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force, which investigates bias-motivated assaults and religious harassment claims regardless of a victim's immigration status, will pursue a hate-crime enhancement. Under Penal Law § 485.05, proving that an attacker targeted a victim in whole or substantial part because of perceived religion would elevate a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony — but no such enhancement has been confirmed in this case, and it remains an open question whether additional individuals among the alleged 10 to 12 participants will face charges.

Dispute Has Rippled Through Community, Victim Rejects Settlement

The case has drawn attention within New York's Bangladeshi community, and efforts were reportedly made to resolve the dispute outside of court. Esh has rejected that path entirely, telling bdnews24.com he refuses any out-of-court financial settlement and wants formal prosecution instead. “I do not believe in settlements; I want justice,” he said.

The friction sits within a tight-knit diaspora where such disputes carry outsized weight. Jamaica is home to the largest concentration of Bangladeshi residents anywhere in New York City, with Queens holding nearly two-thirds of the city's total Bangladeshi population, according to the New York City Department of City Planning. Within that broader Bengali community, roughly 80% identify as Muslim and about 18% as Hindu, making Hindus a distinct religious minority in the enclave, per Wikipedia's demographic estimates drawn from U.S. Census Bureau data — a dynamic that can heighten friction when commercial disputes flare within close-knit immigrant networks.