The Gurgaon Police on Thursday arrested the manager of a pub for serving liquor to underaged youths, including some foreigners. A team swung into action after senior officials of the Gurgaon Excise & Taxation Department saw the pub open even after midnight, violating norms.
Excise officials and police raided the pub, ‘Ion’ in JMD, Arcade Mall on the Mehrauli-Gurgaon (MG) Road and arrested its manager, Prabhat, for violating Section 144 of CrPC imposed by PC Meena, former Deputy Commissioner of the city.
"The officials of Gurgaon Excise and Taxation Department raided the pub at around 2 am on a tip-off about it being open even after midnight, on a regular basis. When they reached the pub, officials caught the pub management red-handed. The pub was locked from inside and employees had lowered the music too. Some Nigerians and six couples from South Delhi were present there," said Subhash Kaushik, Gurgaon Excise Inspector.
"We suspected something fishy during the raid and that's why we forced them to open the door. When employees finally opened the door at 4:30 am, total 35 youths (under 25 years of age), including some Nigerian nationals were found in an inebriated condition. All the youths were let off after a brief warning. As per Excise Rules, pubs in Haryana should not serve liquor to youths under the age of 25," he further added.
Kaushik said that they recommended the Haryana Excise and Taxation Headquarters to cancel the pub's license and directed police to take action against the pub's owner, Rohit Garg. However, the Gurgaon Police arrested only the manager of the pub and registered a case under Section 188 in Sector 29 Police station.