SINGAPORE - A fun night out at one of Singapore's most celebrated nightspots, Zouk, ground abruptly to a halt after the police conducted a three-hour-long raid on early Sunday morning.

The raid started at about 2 am, with clubbers being held back and eventually released in groups of 20, said executive editor of pop culture website PopSpoken Skii Chung, 24, who was there with her friends. "There were no signs of unruly behaviour but after an hour or so, people in the crowd started raising their voices and asking why they couldn't be let out," said Ms Chung, who left the club at about three in the morning. The Straits Times understands that the raid ended at about 4.45am.

When contacted, a police spokesperson confirmed that an operation had happened along Jiak Kim Street, where the club is located. It is not known why the raid was conducted, or if anyone was arrested.

German trance group Cosmic Gate, which was slated to perform at the time, had to cancel their gig. They apologised to fans on their Twitter account and said: "So sorry for everyone to be trapped in that long by the police, not cool at all."

A user on social media platform Instagram by the name of 'parisfrenchfry' snapped a picture of police officers at the club and claimed she was body searched.

One of Singapore's most renowned nightspots, Zouk recently made headlines when its founder Lincoln Cheng said it may close down by year's end if its lease at its Jiak Kim Street premises were not extended for three years.