MUMBAI: The Amboli police arrested the manger of a lounge and two women patrons for allegedly creating manhandling crime branch (unit-9) sleuths who were conducting a raid at the lounge located at Char Bazar in Azad Nagar,
Andheri (W) on Saturday midnight. The officials, who were in plainclothes, said they were raided the lounge as it was operating beyond the stipulated time. But the management refuted the claim and said that they have been falsely framed and even their patrons booked for ‘no fault’.
“The sleuths were seizing hookahs when R K Richa and S H Swati, who were visiting the city, hurled abuses at the cops who were in plain clothes. They asked the officials how they could raid the place when they does not seem to be cops. The matter turned ugly when the patrons had heated argument and even pushed the cops, when they seized the
hookah from their table,” said a police officer.
While seeking their bail on Sunday, the women’s lawyer told the
Bandra holiday court that his clients were innocent and had been framed wrongly in the case. “They just asked the personnel in plain clothes to show their identity cards when they entered the lounge and started the raid,” the lawyer argued. Amboli police senior inspector Bharat Gaikwad confirmed the case. But declined to divulge details.
Police booked the lounge manager J S Desai and the two patrons under IPC sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 336 (act endangering life) and under the COPTA Act.
(Representative image)
