Jurisdictional police in the dock after CCB raids 19 pubs and bars for serious violations
Jurisdictional police personnel are in the dock following a series of raids carried out by Central Crime Branch officials on 19 pubs and bars in West and Central Divisions, which not only exposed multiple violations, but also a lack of monitoring by the jurisdictional police.
Taking a strong exception to the violations, Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh on Tuesday said that a probe had been ordered into the lapses on part of the jurisdictional police and action will be taken based on the report.
Based on a tip-off received by the Commissioner, 11 special police teams of CCB carried out surprise checks at 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. The bars and pubs lacked basic hygiene and had no smoking zones. These pubs and bars were also involved in gross violations of excise rules and operating beyond permissible time limits and did not comply with Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 regulations.
According to a senior police official, the pubs and bars have been operating illegally for the last few months and the jurisdictional police failed to monitor and check them.
'It is the responsibility of the beat police, patrolling police, area in-charge officer along with his local intelligence network to monitor pubs and bars on a regular basis. The raids exposed lapses on their part and failure to do due diligence,' the officer said.
As part of the probe, the jurisdictional police officers will be summoned for questioning and their statement recorded, following which necessary action will be taken.
One of the police officers, who was part of the raid, in his report stated that by the time the police reached a particular pub in Ashoknagar, the women working in the bar had been taken out and the premises were clean with no violation.
The police have recovered the CCTV camera footage to check for violations. This also hints at the pub management being tipped off about the impending raids, an officer said.
Meanwhile, staff of the bars and pubs alleged that the raids carried out by the police were selective and many pubs and bars carrying out similar activities were ignored.
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