2 cops suspended for not acting against dance bar running illegally in Andheri

An officer and a constable, attached with the MIDC police station in Andheri, were recently suspended by senior officers for not taking appropriate action against an illegal dance bar.

Sub-inspector Kalyan Narayan Ghadge and police naik Dattatray Narayanrao Ambore, of beat chowky-3, were suspended by senior officers after a departmental inquiry found them guilty.

Ghadge and Ambore were assigned the duty to keep a watch on the illegal activities at establishments in the area. However, they had failed to report the illegal activities at Saroj Palace bar in Andheri.

The matter came to light when a team of officials from the Anti-Narcotics Cell, Kandivli unit, led by deputy commissioner of police (narcotics), Shivdeep Lande, raided Saroj Palace on March 30, around 12.30am, as commissioner of police, Sanjay Barve, had directed officers to carry out surprise checks at bars and restaurants. The team found that the women employed there were dancing in an “obscene and vulgar” manner. According to the revised Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurant and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working therein) Act, 2016, obscene dances are not permitted in a dance bar and an employer permitting them would be jailed for three years. The team detained 15 people and four women working at the bar and approached the MIDC police station and a complaint was registered.

It was then found that Ghadge and Ambore had failed to take appropriate action against the bar owner. Although they claimed that they had inspected Saroj Palace properly, they had failed to provide thorough information on all the terms and conditions pertaining to the bar owner’s licence. “All these surfaced during a departmental inquiry ordered by senior officers after the ANC raid on the bar. In the inquiry, the two cops were found guilty and were suspended from the service,” said an officer.