Gurugram’s nightlife & crime breeders
Sumedha Sharma
Gurugram, often dubbed as the millennial city of north India, has become the most sought after party hub in Delhi NCR in the last seven years. The city is home to over 100 pubs, bars and lounges that every night play host to partying crowds of multi-national company (MNC) executives, Indian expats, foreign nationals and celebrities. Patronised for their ambience, food, music and convenience, these pubs and bars are regarded as the key revenue generators for malls and eventually the state, but these are also becoming crime breeders and nuisance creators.
A series of incidents in the last one year has not only forced local residents to demand the closure of these places but also got the police on their toes. Party hubs such as Sector 29 and the MG Road are reportedly proving to be perfect hunting grounds for criminals on the prowl. Graduating from underage drinking, a series of crimes related to e-drugs to honey-trapping to abduction has been reported in the last one year wherein investigation revealed sheer lapses and even alleged connivance of these places with criminals in helping them trap unsuspecting people.
Last week, three women were nabbed from Ghaziabad for allegedly ‘picking’ up a man they had been trailing in a pub and robbing him after taking him to a hotel. This was the third case in the last one month when two women ‘picked’ up a city resident from Sector 29 and robbed him. Similarly, a few days ago, an automobile company executive was robbed in a similar fashion. The investigation in the case brought to the fore startling facts highlighting sheer indifference of pubs in adopting security measures.
“The three women would lurk outside pubs helping stags to gain entry and be their dance partners for the night. They were allowed free entry and even drinks on house. They would submit the identity cards of other girls and the fact that the pub managements never noticed it surely hints at connivance. They were openly practising prostitution there, picking up men, taking them to hotels and then robbing them. Though the no-objection certificates issued to them were withdrawn and were given repeated instructions, the pubs and the bars, especially on the MG Road, have failed to curtail prostitution, which has led to other crimes like robbery. They plead that prostitution does not happen on spot but there is no denying that people are picked up or trapped here. We seek support of all stakeholders in making Gurugram city a safe party hub,” says Karan Goel, Additional Commissioner of Police.
Honey-trapping, prostitution
While the pubs and the bars continue to be in a constant denial mode, the Gurugam police frequently receive complaints of flesh trade thriving there. The issue long ignored made national headlines when residents of the MG Road protested demanding the closure of these party places. Calling these places utter nuisance, they approached the state government and the police. Acting on their complaints, the then Police Commissioner, KK Rao, in a unique initiative, visited incognito pubs and bars and got to the underbelly of thriving prostitution. Following a series of raids, the Gurugram police withdrew the NOCs issued to over 12 clubs, forcing them to close shops for a few weeks. The affected parties moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court that too gave a virtual free hand to the police in maintaining law and order in pubs and clubs. A 10-point instructions were issued and after a brief period of improvement things returned to the earlier chaos.
Modus operandi
According to the police, you visit any of the pubs or clubs in the city, especially on the MG Road, and you will find women lurking outside their premises, offering you a free entry or for as low as Rs 500. They are regulars at most of these places.
According to a pub owner, they are crowd pullers and hence are given free entry and even free drinks. While initially they were never required to show their identity cards, after the police action they now present identity cards, usually stolen copies of the identity cards of other girls, mostly students. These women, according to the police, once inside a pub or a club present you with their ‘rate card’, specifying an amount for dancing with you, going out after the party, kissing and having sex. Many of them lead these men looking for fun to other men in the pub, who make the arrangements. These women are known as entry tickets and numerous young girls living in nearby areas have taken it up as profession. Interestingly, after police crackdowns most of them have shifted their base to Delhi and visit Gurugram city every evening.
Ironically, despite it being a regular feature and those being nabbed confessing to indulging in prostitution the Gurugram police have never received any complaint or tip-off from the bars and the pubs regarding it.
Breeding ground for criminals
It’s not just flesh trade but these party hubs are also proving to be perfect hunting grounds for kidnappers, vehicle and highway robbers looking to identify and trap easy targets without any hassles.
A few months ago, a gang kidnapped a hospital owner from Sector 29 and sought a whooping extortion amount of Rs 50 lakh for his release. The police eventually nabbed the three kidnappers and were startled by their confession. The gangsters would frequent pubs and bars and look for men carrying iPhones, coming in big cars and those who got drunk. They would then follow these men to parking spaces and overpower them and abduct or rob them.
Similarly, a vehicle robber nabbed by the police has revealed that they used to visit the city’s most renowned party places and keep tabs on regular patrons through the security and parking staff. They would then in connivance with the valet flee with cars.
Drugs e-addictives in pubs
While the pub and club owners have been constantly denying the use of drugs in their establishments, a special task force (STF) crackdown on a major drug pedalling racket in 2018 highlighted the menace. The STF nabbed two Nigerians, who reportedly told it that they used to supply heroin to different clubs, pubs and bars, most of them located on the MG Road.
The accused, UC Okolie (40) and Yoco Kouadio (32), reportedly told the police how a lack of vigilance and caution made the pubs and the bars of the city hassle-free trading grounds for them. Allowing foreigners, especially women, with open arms, these joints have become easy places for such people to earn a quick buck by selling drugs. Rampant use and sale of e-addictives too has left the local police harried.
Public nuisance
City residents have held several protests demanding the closure or at least shifting out of party hubs from public malls. They insist that they feel inconvenience owing to the ruckus often created outside the premises of the party hubs. Drunk patrons creating nuisance outside malls late night has also made things difficult for them. The Gurugram police have carried out repeated late night surprise checks but in the absence of proper law and order norms the imposition of a penalty is a tough task.
The roadblock
A lack of a specified regulatory policy or a law to manage pubs, bars and lounges is what renders law enforcers helpless. With no specified definition of pubs in the excise policy, these party places or dance joints are monitored under the L4 and L5 excise licences. These licences are generic authorisation to serve liquor and are the only regulation meant to be followed by classy dining restaurants, normal bars and pubs and lounges alike. There are no approved norms pertaining to safety, security, noise, public nuisance or general ambience of these joints. So far, the Gurugram police have managed to ensure complete compliance of the closure timings only, which also is flouted many a time.
On the contrary, the Maharashtra Police with a much higher number of such places have clear orders pertaining to running of these joints and have managed to ensure law and order.
As many as 254 FIRs have been registered since 2016 at police stations at DLF Phase-II, and Sector 29 under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and the Excise Act against people who create a ruckus and nuisance outside pubs, clubs and malls.
Laxity in security helps criminals, says Police Commissioner
"Of late, in many crimes, be it honey-trapping or robberies or abductions, criminals heavily relied on laxity in security and norms at these places. These places may not be directly conniving but a lack of vigilance is an aid to criminals. It is not just criminals indulging in crimes here or trapping people, many proclaimed absconders are known to be regularly visiting these places but we have never been informed. If you are letting people enter without checking their identity cards, allowing those with a suspicious outlook and identity to loiter around your premises and despite CCTV cameras being mandatory not supplying their footage to the police every month, this indifference hugely helps criminals, forcing us to take strict action. Yes, everybody has a right to provide a party place but that should not be a threat to law and order or cause of public nuisance." — Muhammad Akil, Commissioner of Police, Gurugram
2018 police directives
- Separate entry and exit for club goers and shoppers or other mall visitors.
- Sufficient lighting.
- Regulation of volume of music.
- Installation of biometric system.
- Stopping entry of minors.
- Installation of CCTV cameras on the premises and a provision of camera footage along with biometric data to local police stations on a daily basis.
- No smoking in clubs and setting up of separate smoking areas.
- Hiring security personnel from registered agencies only.
- Mall managements to maintain surveillance.
- No marketing agents to be allowed in malls publicising any club.
- Specifying the seating capacity and ensuring that no illegal activity like prostitution is carried out
