Hyderabad, April 09: Cracking down on hookah centres which allegedly allow minors, West Zone police on Friday raided hookah bars in the posh Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills and Punjagutta areas. Police seized hookahs from a couple of places.
According to police, the hookah centres were allowing minors to enter the premises and serving hookah to them. Police found hookah bars were running even in coffee shops, particularly in Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Punjagutta and Sanjeevareddy Nagar.
Though police have been asking managements not to allow minors, they reportedly did not mend their ways. “These hookah centres are allowing entry to minors and serving hookah to them. We will not hesitate to close them,” Banjara Hills assistant commissioner of police R Ravinder Reddy said.
Police also suspect that the centres are serving other banned substances to the customers. In Banjara Hills and Sanjeevareddy Nagar police station limits, raids were conducted on 10 hookah centres and they were closed down.
–Agencies