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Pubs, bars under drug scanner
Close on the heels of the ongoing probe into the drug racket busted recently in Hyderabad, pubs, bar and restaurants in star hotels have now come under government radar. The special teams of Telangana State Excise and Prohibition Department are investigation into the role of pubs in the spread of drug menace in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad: Close on the heels of the ongoing probe into the drug racket busted recently in Hyderabad, pubs, bar and restaurants in star hotels have now come under government radar. The special teams of Telangana State Excise and Prohibition Department are investigation into the role of pubs in the spread of drug menace in Hyderabad.
The special teams will be raiding pubs at random to find out the facilities provided, including the supply of liquor varieties, use of drugs, ganja and other substances in the hookah centres run illegally in the same premises.
This move assumes importance as there are allegations that the hookah centres were allowing minors as well. The pub managements have been asked to furnish the details of visitors, mainly the celebrities and foreign nationals and the time they spend in the pubs. It is said that there are nearly 50 licensed pubs in Hyderabad.
Top official of the Excise department told The Hans India that the enforcement wing in the department had received ample clues that some pubs have turned as drug-sale points.
Most of the pubs located in Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Panjagutta, Begumpet and Hi-Tec City were already identified as the main centres for the consumption of drugs by the children of some high-profile persons from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Officials said that separate chambers have been created in some pubs where the addicts meet the drug peddlers to buy the drugs and consume it there. For providing such facility, the managements are said to be charging special fee from both consumers and the peddlers.
In some cases, the pubs are supplying drinks laced with some narcotic drugs to attract more number of visitors particularly youth for night parties during weekends. The Excise department, sources said, has gathered ample evidence that drug peddlers from Nigeria and Uganda are in collusion with some pubs, bar and restaurants in star hotels and supply drugs regularly.
The probing officials are verifying the CCTV footage to ascertain the visit of film personalities, kith and kin of industrialists, bureaucrats and political leaders to the recreation centres. The Excise and Prohibition Department has been asked by the Chief Minister to submit a detailed report within a week.
