Kolkata: Hookah bar, cafe raided, 10 held – Times of India

KOLKATA: Kolkata Police have now started raiding all commercial establishments they find open after 9pm. Cops raided a cafe and a hookah bar at Bhowanipore and arrested 10 persons from these two establishments, charging them under various sections of Disaster Management Act and the COTP Act. All police stations have been also directed to carry out specific raids to shut down eateries and shops post 9pm.
Cops said the cafes located at Aston Road and Elgin Road were found to be serving hookah and food till 4am. “Three partners of the Elgin Road cafe were arrested. All three are residents of Watgunge Street. At the Aston Road cafe, we arrested seven, all managers and employees of the cafe,” said a south division officer. “A good number of hookah base and flavours were seized from both places,” said an officer. The accused said there were no customers at the time of raid and they were only taking stock of the day’s sales.
Traffic police continued to prosecute motorists on the road, the numbers on Wed-nesday night again crossing the five-figure mark. The figures hit 1026 by midnight, higher than even Tuesday’s numbers. The three guards covering south Kolkata – east, southeast and south – recorded around 50 per cent of the cases.
The east traffic guard that carried out checks at Ballygunge Circular Road. Loudon Street and Park Circus 7-point Crossing came up with a record 115 prosecutions. With night restrictions extended till August 15, Lalbazar hinted at beginning checks post midnight too. “We are also mulling stricter charges,” said an officer. Several popular dhabas and ice cream parlours, including biryani and Punjabi food joints, were told to shut down before 8.45pm to give patrons enough time to move out. DC (Traffic) Arijit Sinha said all guards have been asked to work in close coordination with local police to reinforce the night curbs.