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Chhattisgarh Police to ensure total ban on hookah bars, drug smuggling
On Friday, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel during a meeting of police chiefs, in Raipur asked them to take strict measures to check the menace of drug smuggling in the state and also ensure strict monitoring on inter-state borders to prevent the entry of narcotics from outside.
The Chhattisgarh government has directed the police to ensure a complete ban on hookah-bars in the state and to take strong measures to check drug too, officials said on Saturday.
Raipur Police on Saturday raided around half-a-dozen hookah bars after the directions from the Chhattisgarh government.
The move came a week after an SUV, allegedly transporting ganja from Odisha to Madhya Pradesh, ploughed into a religious procession in Jashpur, killing one person and injuring 17 others.
On Friday, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel during a meeting of police chiefs, in Raipur asked them to take strict measures to check the menace of drug smuggling in the state and also ensure strict monitoring on inter-state borders to prevent the entry of narcotics from outside.
Officials present at the meeting said that Baghel also directed them to ensure that ‘hookah’ bars are completely banned in the state.
“Baghel said that police should take stern action to prevent (contraband) drugs trade in the state. They should ensure that narcotics do not enter Chhattisgarh from other states. Even a single leaf of ganja (cannabis) should not be allowed to enter Chhattisgarh from other states,” an official said.
The chief minister also directed the IGs and SPs to hold a meeting with their counterparts in neighbouring Odisha and Madhya Pradesh to contain drug smuggling.
