An unmanageable crowd forced event managers to cancel Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's inauguration of an 18-storey-high giant wheel, called the Delhi Eye, here Monday evening.

The star, 44, was supposed to inaugurate the Delhi Eye at the Kalindi Kunj Park here.

"The event has been cancelled due to crowd mismanagement. It was way too panicky to continue with this kind of crowd, " a source from the event organising team, told.

A Delhi Police officer told on condition of anonymity: "The event has been cancelled as the crowd was not under control. There were more than 500 people and the crowd was going out of hand, and because of this we even had to go for a lathicharge. "

Bollywood item girl Malaika Arora Khan was also scheduled to perform at the launch.

Offering a panoramic view of the Qutub Minar, Red Fort, Lotus Temple, Connaught Place and Nehru Place among other spots in the city, the Delhi Eye has been modelled on the London Eye and the Singapore Flyer. The wheel stands tall at about five metres above the ground with a 50 metre diameter.