Hyderabad, December 03: Hookah centres allowing minors to enjoy a smoke have now come under the scanner of city police. Police caught 18 minors, including a couple of girls on Thursday at a hookah centre, enjoying a puff. A case has been booked against the management of the hookah centre. All nabbed youngsters are kin of top businessmen, doctors and a politician and they had bunked college to enjoy a hookah session, police said.
According to Central Zone deputy commissioner of police Akun Sabharwal, hookah centres are not supposed to provide hookah to customers without checking their age. On information that Silver Foil located at Himayathnagar was not verifying age of customers, police raided it on Thursday afternoon and caught the 18 youths. Akun Sabharwal said the youngsters, all aged between 15-16 years had bunked their colleges and visited the hookah centre.
The youngsters were shifted to the Narayanaguda police station and their parents summoned. The DCP reportedly counselled the youngsters and their parents. However, the youngsters were let off following a request by their parents, the DCP said. The police, however, took a written undertaking from the youngsters as well as their parents. “We have warned the youngsters to mend their ways or else they would land in trouble,” Akun Sabharwal said.
Narayanguda police said a case had been registered against the Silver Foil management and investigation is on. Akun Sabharwal said hookah centres within Central Zone limits were given 48 hours to comply with licence norms and on the issue of verification of customer age.
“Raids would be conducted from December 5 on hookah centres to check whether they were complying to norms or not,’’ he said.
–Agencies–