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Bigg Boss 17 winner Munawar Faruqui, among others were taken into custody during a raid at a hookah bar in Mumbai’s Fort neighbourhood Tuesday night. Faruqui and his accomplice have been charged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 283 (risk or obstruction in a public way or line of navigation) and 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), as well as the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA). The accused were questioned and released following the filing of a complaint against them, according to the police.
The officer said that the operation lasted till five on Wednesday morning. The raid was carried out by the Mumbai Police’s Social Service section around 10.30 PM on Tuesday at a hookah parlour in Bora Bazar. A senior officer told PTI, “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 them, but they were later allowed to go as the sections slapped against them were bailable.”
Big Boss 17 winner Munawar Faruqui and 13 others were detained and a case has been registered against them in a hookah bar raid in the Fort area last night. All accused were released after questioning: Mumbai Police
— ANI (@ANI) March 27, 2024
Police claimed that the hookah parlour in the Fort region of the city was operating illegally. During the Tuesday raid, they found nine hookah pots worth Rs 13,500 and Rs 4,400 in cash.
The Times of India reports that, on a tip, the Mumbai Police’s Social Service Branch raided the Sabalan hookah establishment in Bora Bazaar. Police told the newspaper, “Our team raided on the information that the patrons were indulging in tobacco-based hookah use under the guise of herbal hookah.”
The 32-year-old rose to fame on YouTube as a rapper and stand-up comic. He first gained notoriety in 2021 when, following accusations of offending religious feelings, he was jailed for a month after making comments about Hindu deities at a stand-up performance. After receiving threats from right-wing organizations, the comic cancelled 12 of his gigs in less than two months, causing anger and leading him to declare he would give up comedy.
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