Munawar Faruqui among 14 detained after raid at hookah parlour

Mumbai: Stand-up comedian and ‘Bigg Boss – 17’ winner Munawar Faruqui was among 14 persons detained by the Mumbai police after they were found smoking hookahs during a raid in south Mumbai, an official said on Wednesday.

The Social Service branch of the city police conducted the raid at a hookah parlour located in Bora Bazar area of Fort around 10.30 pm on Tuesday, and the operation continued till 5 am of Wednesday, an official said.

“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 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.