Two boys detained in Pune for taking drugs in L3 bar; PMC acts against illegal premises (Ld)

Mumbai/Pune, June 25 (IANS) The Pune Police have identified and detained two boys who were seen taking drugs in the toilet of a Liquid Leisure Lounge (L3) bar, officials said on Tuesday.

The two boys, one from Mumbai and another from Pune, came under the police radar after a viral video showed them ostensibly taking drugs at around 3 a.m. on Sunday, sitting beside the toilet seat of a washroom in an L3 bar, sparking a major political controversy and public onslaught.

Rattled by the row, the excise department has now suspended the licence of the L3 bar and is taking action against several other establishments flouting norms.

The two boys were part of a large group of some 40-50 youngsters who came for the L3 party which started after the shutters went down at 1.30 a.m. (official closing hours), arriving in small groups to avoid detection by the Shivajinagar police station, which is barely a 100 metres away.

The two youngsters, both said to be professionally qualified, will be questioned as to how they were invited for the party, from where or whom they procured the narcotics, about the event management company that organised the party, the other participants, plus other details.

The police scanned the CCTV footage which showed more than four dozen youngsters, including girls, partying amind loud music, with food and beverages being served after the official closing hours of the bar located on the posh Fergusson College Road.

So far, more than a dozen of the participants have been identified, including the one who reportedly blew up around Rs 85,000 on his food & beverages. The police have also taken blood samples of several of them before proceeding against them under the relevant laws.

Taking cognizance of the matter, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has ordered stringent action against all bars/restaurants/pubs flouting the rules, and even to run bulldozers over any such illegal establishments that are detected in Pune.

The Pune Municipal Corporation swung into action and dealt hammer blows plus a bulldozer at L3 and a couple of other establishments in the vicinity, demolishing the illegal structures. More action will follow in the coming days.

Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders like Nana Patole, Ravindra Dhangekar, Jayant Patil, Sanjay Raut, and Sushma Andhare have also targeted the government for the ‘collapse’ of law and order in the state, demanding the resignation of Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis who holds the home prtfolio.

On Tuesday’s action, Dhangekar termed it as an ‘eyewash’ coming ahead of the legislative session starting Thursday, adding that the MVA will raise the issue in the House.

Raut alleged that drugs worth thousands of crores of rupees are entering Maharashtra from Gujarat, while Fadnavis hit back by claiming that Rs 100 crore was extorted during the MVA regime, but the present government is taking action.

“Almost all the pubs/bars in the city are illegal and thriving, but repeated complaints remain ignored. The PMC must act against all instead of targeting a few now, and the police must register criminal cases and dump the offenders in jail,” Dhangekar said.

So far, around nine persons have been arrested and shunted to police custody till June 29, besides four police personnel and two other excise department officials, who have been suspended pending a probe in connection with the case.

–IANS

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