News: CM’s flying squad raids Ggm dhaba for serving liquor-07-03-2022
Gurugram: The chief minister’s flying squad and the excise department late on Saturday night raided a dhaba in Sector 59, which was running beyond the permissible time limits and serving flavoured hookah
Police and excise officers were receiving complaints against the dhaba for the past one month and a special police team was formed to raid ‘Desi Khaat’, located at Backyard Sports Club in Sector 59.
Police said three people own the dhaba and they were not present during the midnight raid. They were booked under sections 4 and 6 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA) and Section 61 of Excise Act at the Sector 65 police station.
Police officials have sent the recovered liquid flavours and hookahs to a laboratory for testing.
Inderjeet Yadav, deputy superintendent of police (DSP) with the CM’s flying squad said when police raided the dhaba, a party was in full swing and around 100 people were seated, while some of them were standing and consuming liquor.
“The staff and owners were regularly organising parties at the dhaba and invited singers and disc jockeys (DJs) to perform. They used to take cover charges from people to be part of the events. They were operating for the last one month without even taking a liquor licence from the excise department and were also selling hookahs,” DSP Yadav said.
DSP Yadav added that the dhaba employees turned off the lights after they saw a police team approaching them. Taking advantage of the darkness, the operator fled from the spot. The police have arrested the cashier, identified as Sanjay Kumar Thakur, who is a native of Jharkhand.
In November, the CM’s flying squad had raided three ahatas in Sector 56 and 65 and arrested the managers for serving alcohol without a liquor licence and well beyond the permissible time limit.
VK Beniwal, deputy commissioner of excise and taxation, Gurugram (East), said that the ‘Desi Khaat’ dhaba is not an ahata. “It is a full-fledged dhaba which flouted the law by serving liquor and hookah without prior permission and had no liquor licence. Our team was sent to the spot with police personnel and officials from the CM’s flying squad and they have registered a case against the owners, while the cashier was arrested from the spot,” he said.
Beniwal said they are also keeping a close watch on ahatas and have warned the owners not to indulge in any illegal activities; else strict action will be taken against them.
The chief minister’s flying squad has also been receiving complaints for the past few weeks that some small outlets are serving liquor and hookah without licences, said police, adding that a few pubs and bars in the city also serve vapes and e-hookahs these days.
“The suspects had even called a DJ to perform and took bookings for the event. We have formed teams and are conducting surprise checks across the city to find out whether dhabas are serving alcohol and hookah,” added DSP Yadav.
Police said that consignments of liquor and hookahs were seized from the dhaba.
Police said that until the year 2016, hookahs were served with tobacco molasses, which was banned by the Punjab and Haryana high court. DSP Yadav said that they will continue to raid establishments in the upcoming days and take action if they are found serving hookahs and alcohol.
In February 2017, the district administration had enforced Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to ban hookah bars in the city. The move came in order to make Gurugram city nicotine-free.
