Karnal : joint teams from the Chief Minister’s Flying Squad, local police, excise and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during a raid on Monday late evening unearthed an illegal hookah bar operating from a restaurant-cum-bar in Sector 7, Karnal  and recovered recovered stocks of material containing nicotine beyond permissible limits. They used to serve  Hookah alongwith costly wine. During the search, an excess quantity of nicotine was detected which was harmful for the health and was strictly prohibited. The raiding officers said that running a hookah bar was strictly prohibited, whereas despite this the owners were charging Rs 3,000 per hookah.

An FIR was registered against four persons: identified as Rakesh the manager, Emmanuel Gomes, the owners Vikas Bansal and Amit Gupta under Section 6 of the Poisons Act, 1919, and Section 21 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (COTPA), at the police station, said Ajit Singh, DSP, CM Flying Squad. Among those present were Drug Control Officer Vikas Rathee and Sub-Inspector Sultan and few others when they raided the restaurant and found hookahs being served to customers.

Ajit Singh DSP CM Flying Squad said during the inspection, the team found mango flavour containing 0.5 per cent nicotine along with 21 boxes containing various flavours of tobacco. He added, samples of different flavours were collected by the Drug Control Officer and have been handed over to the local police to be sent to the FSL, Madhuban (Karnal), for testing. Information reveals, when the team was conducting raids the employees working in the hotel and the customers managed to flee, but police stopped two managers and during investigation it was observed that the excise department had issued license for running the bar from 27the March till 11th June. The stocks of flavoured tobacco mixed with nicotine were seized.