Munawar Faruqui among detained in hookah parlour raid

Mumbai: The Mumbai police apprehended 14 people on Wednesday after discovering them smoking hookahs during a raid in south Mumbai, including stand-up comic and 'Bigg Boss - 17' winner Munawar Faruqui.

An official added that the raid, which began at around 10.30 p.m. on Tuesday and continued until 5 a.m. on Wednesday, was carried out by the city police's Social Service section at a hookah parlour in the Fort area known as Bora Bazar.

"During the raid, the police found stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui and others smoking hookahs at the joint. We also have a video of their act. We detained Faruqui and others, but they were later allowed to go as the sections slapped against them were bailable," a senior police official said.

Police had received information that some patrons were smoking tobacco-based hookahs at the parlour in the guise of smoking herbal hookahs, he said.

Faruqui and others were booked under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act along with the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 283 (danger or obstruction in a public way or line of navigation), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), the official said.

Notices were served to Faruqui and others by the Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Marg police and they were allowed to go, he said.

With PTI inputs