Ahmedabad police raided a restaurant where a hookah bar was being run illegally and arrested the manager of the baron basis of several anomalies.
The city police on Tuesday evening raided a restaurant where a hookah bar was being run illegally and arrested the manager of the bar after they unearthed several anomalies in the manner in which the bar was being operated.
The owner of the bar has also been booked in the case. However, he is yet to be arrested.
Police said they raided a restaurant named 7 Days which also housed a hookah bar. At the time of the raid, 28 youngsters were found smoking pipes.
Police though denied spotting any underage youth in the bar, but said that there are at least two major violations in the way the hookah bar was being operated.
"There were 28 customers in the bar but in the logbook, there were only 12 entries with identity proofs. Further, the bar was also found violating the lighting norm, which stipulates that every corner of the bar has to be well lighted and visible. However, the lighting was similar to that of a discotheque in order to create a cozy atmosphere for couples," said deputy commissioner of police, zone-1, Sandeep Singh.
He said the police have arrested bar manager Umesh Israni, 27, while the owner, identified as Sachin Joshi, is said to out of Ahmedabad. Singh said that Joshi will also be arrested soon.
Last month too zone-1 police had busted a hookah bar named Ozone Lounge located opposite Rajpath Club on SG Highway. The police had received several complaints against the bar management. This bar was being run in a restaurant and the bar was not separated from the restaurant in accordance with the norms.
This year, another hookah bar named Midnight, located near Hometown Mall in Thaltej, had also been raided in which 10 minors were caught smoking hookah. Although the bar had been sealed by the AMC earlier for violation of norms, it was being run illegally.
According to sources, there are several other hookah bars in the city which have popped up in last couple of months. Most of these bars are violating the norms and are run with the protection of police. If sources are to be believed, in many bars police officials are stakeholders, but not on record.
"There are at least half-a-dozen hookah bars which are violating the norms. But these bars go unnoticed because of the proprietors' relationship with the police," highly placed sources added.
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