Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], February 10 (ANI): The Bengaluru police stopped British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran's impromptu street performance on Church Street on Sunday, sparking a wave of online discussions.

The singer, who is currently on his India tour, responded hours later, claiming that his team had obtained prior permission to perform in the area.

Sheeran's performance was abruptly halted by police officials just moments after he began his popular song, 'Shape of You'.

A viral video shows the artist starting the performance before the police intervened and cut the cables, stopping the performance within a minute.

Speaking on the incident, Shekar T Tekkannanavar, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) for Central Bengaluru, clarified the situation.

Tekkannanavar explained, 'A member among the event organisers came to meet me to seek permission for the Streetside performance at Church Street. I refused to give permission because Church Street gets very crowded. That is the reason he was asked to vacate the place.'

Earlier, hours after the incident that happened on Sunday, Ed Sheeran took to his Instagram to respond to the same.

On his Instagram story, the 'Perfect' singer confirmed that his team had secured prior approval to 'busk' at the location.

'We had permission to busk, by the way. Hence, us playing in that exact spot was planned out beforehand. It wasn't just us randomly turning up. All good though. See you at the show tonight x,' Sheeran wrote on social media, addressing his fans and assuring them of his continued performance in the city.

Ed Sheeran is currently on his India tour. He performed in Bengaluru on Sunday. He has already performed in Hyderabad and Chennai.

During his Chennai concert, he was joined on stage by legendary composer AR Rahman. The two performed a rendition of the classic song 'Urvashi'.

Before the concert, Sheeran also met AR Rahman and his son AR Ameen. Rahman shared pictures of their meeting on Instagram, where Sheeran was seen taking pictures and sitting at Rahman's music console. The caption read, 'Photos by Ed Sheeran.'

He will also perform in Shillong and Delhi NCR in the coming days. (ANI)