Gurgaon: Students caught in hookah bar raid

In a crackdown on hookah bars, the Gurgaon police raided a restaurant in DLF City on Wednesday and recovered hookahs, packets of flavoured tobacco molasses and beer bottles. Leena Dhankhar and Deevakar Anand report.

In a crackdown on hookah bars, the Gurgaon police raided a restaurant in DLF City on Wednesday and recovered hookahs, packets of flavoured tobacco molasses and beer bottles.

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The police also found school students aged between 16-18 years smoking hookah at the bar. However, they were let off after a warning.

Gurgaon police commissioner Alok Mittal said a team led by ACP Bhupinder Singh raided Neon Cage and Lounge in Super Mart, Part 1, in DLF City Phase IV on Wednesday evening.

“Our team recovered nine hookahs, six packets of flavoured tobacco molasses and three beer bottles. The team also found 16 boys, including school students aged between 16-18 years, and a girl. They were let off after a warning. The students were found smoking hookah,” he added.

Mittal said three persons, including two restaurant owners, and their aide were arrested under Section 188 (not following government directive) of the IPC.

They will be produced in a local court on Thursday.“Surprisingly, one of the two restaurant owners and his aide were aged 19 years. The other owner is 24-year-old,” he added.

Mittal said the restaurant does not have a licence to serve liquor. Hindustan Times had carried a story “Hookah bars operate despite ban” in its February 26 edition in which it had highlighted the menace of school students visiting hookah bars.

In February 2012, the Gurgaon deputy commissioner had invoked Section 144, CrPC, to ensure closure of hookah bars in the city.

Until then, hookah was being served at nearly 200 bars in Gurgaon.