Pramesh S Jain
The Jurisdictional police personnel in the dock following a series of raids carried out by the Central Crime Branch officials on 19 pubs and bars in West And Central Division not only exposed multiple violations and also employing women to entertain customers,but also lack of monitoring by the jurisdictional police.
Taking a strong exception, City Police Commissioner, Seemanth Kumar Singh on Tuesday said that a probe has been ordered and action will be taken based on the report .
Based on a tip off received by the City Police Commissioner,11 special police teams of CCB have been formed who carried suprise checks at the Pubs and Bars in Upparpet,Cottonpet,Kalasipalya,Cubbon Park,and Ashoknagar police station limits.
The officials found 19 establishments were violating rules and also employed women staff illegally on the garb of bar tenders but they are asked to entertain customers dressed inappropriately .
The bars and pubs lack basic hygiene and absence of smoking zones.These pubs and bars were also involved in gross violations of excise rules and operating beyond permissible time limits and non-compliance with COTPA regulations (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act).
According to a senior police officials,the Pubs and Bars are operating illegally for the last few months and the jurisdictional police failed to monitor.
It is the responsibility of the beat police,patrolling police, area in-charge officer along with his local int network to monitor pubs and bars on regular basis.The raids exposed lapses on their part and carrying out the due diligence .
As per the probe,the jurisdictional police officers in-charge will be summoned for questioning and record their statement following which necessary action will be taken.
Meanwhile,staff of the bars and pubs who have been raided by police alleged that the raid carried out by the police were selective and many pubs and bars carrying out similar activities were ignored .
One of the police officer who was part of the raid in his report stated that by the time police reached the Pub in Ashok Nagar the women working in the bar have been vacated and the premises was clean with no violation.
The police have recovered the CCTV footage to check for the violations he added.
