NEW DELHI: Two clubs operating in violation of Covid-19 restrictions and illegally serving hookah to customers were raided by Rohini district police and 65 people, including four managers and owners, arrested. Cops also seized 22 hookahs and other ingredients from the spot.
According to DCP (Rohini), PK Mishra, a special team was directed to keep a close tab on the hookah bars in Rohini and take appropriate action against the owners and users, if found violating regulations.
Cops were deployed in plainclothes around establishments and several informers were also mobilised.
On January 1, police received a tip off about one such joint named Uptown Cafe in sector 9, Rohini, and carried out a raid. Twenty-two people were found dancing and smoking hookah in blatant violation of Covid-19 norms. Four people serving hookahs to customers were also arrested. The owner of the bar was identified as Sahil, 23, from Alipur.
Similarly, acting on another tip-off, cops raided a pub named Mud Bousr in sector 8 and apprehended 32 people, including three minors. “All three owners of the bar namely Amit Dhankar, Sanjay Aggarwal and Pardeep Singhal, have been identified and appropriate legal action has been initiated against them,” the DCP said.
Cops also invoked section of Juvenile Justice Act in the FIR, apart from the Epidemic Diseases Act and Cigarettes and Other Tobbacco Products Act (COTPA).
Earlier on Saturday, a fire had broke out at an illegal hookah bar in west Delhi.