ED SHEERAN pulled off a surprise live performance on a busy Indian street on Sunday, but the police were having none of it and stopped the British singer-songwriter in the middle of the gig.

The four-time Grammy winner planned an impromptu busking session in the city of Bengaluru in southern India, a nod to his roots as an artist where he used to busk in the streets of London before rising to fame.

About halfway through his 2017 hit “Shape of You” on the city’s Church Street, local police interrupted the performance, citing that Sheeran did not have the required permission to perform in public.

In a viral video posted on social media, Sheeran was seen stopping playing after an officer in a khaki uniform unplugged his microphone and guitar. The interruption appeared to frustrate the singer.

Sheeran took to Instagram to defend his actions.

“We had permission to busk,” he said.

The police stated they had previously denied Sheeran permission to perform in the area.

According to a report from CNN, a citizen reported Sheeran’s performance via a helpline after he began playing.

Local authorities in India also received criticism for halting Sheeran’s street performance, with some arguing that it was unlikely to cause disruption.

Critics urged officials to focus on more pressing issues such as traffic congestion and water scarcity in the city, which is home to around 14 million people.

In the same CNN report, Bengaluru Central Division’s Deputy Commissioner of Police Shekhar H. Tekkannavar said that the request was denied because Church Street is a high-traffic area where traffic flow must be maintained.

The incident happened while Sheeran was on a tour in India with scheduled performances in multiple cities.

Moreover, Sheeran is set to perform two more shows in the country before continuing his tour in China and the United Arab Emirates.(Rey Martin Rio, USJ-R Comm Intern)

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• #Police