Ban on hookah bars goes up in smoke

Tribune News Service

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Amritsar, January 25

A team of police and Excise officials raided several restaurants in the posh Ranjit Avenue area here on Friday evening.

The officials found that several restaurants were illegally serving liquor and running hookah bars. The restaurants did not have a valid licence for the same.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Sandeep Kumar Malik said, “Police and Excise Department officials raided Blind Tiger Bar, Jokar Bar, European Bar, Olive 95 and Aura Restaurant on Friday evening. Besides Blind Tiger Bar, Jokar Bar and European Night Bar were found running hookah bars in an illegal manner.”

The Ranjit Avenue police seized hookahs from the spot. With the seizure, it seems that illegal hookah bars continue to thrive right under the nose of the authorities. The police registered cases under the Excise Act and Section 21 and 24 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act.

The district administration has imposed a ban on the operation of hookah bars in the city as these could easily drive youngsters towards drug addiction. The administration banned the same after a number of instances of illegal hookah bars came to light.