97 caught for obscenity, flouting COVID-19 norms at restaurant in Mumbai

Mumbai Police nabbed 97 people, including 28 women, from a restaurant here in the wee hours of Sunday for allegedly disobeying COVID-19 prevention protocols and indulging in obscene acts, officials said.

The women were later let-off while others, including the restaurant's manager and three waiters, were arrested, they said.

Based on some inputs, the police conducted a raid at the 'Bombay Brute' restaurant located on Link Road in suburban Jogeshwari where they found people dancing, consuming liquor and smoking hookah, the official said, adding that those nabbed were from well-off families in the city.

The restaurant manager had apparently contacted these people to come to the premises, saying they had reopened the place (following easing of restrictions), he said.

Oshiwara police station's senior inspector Dayanand Bangar said total 97 people were caught. Of them, 28 women were asked to go while the others were arrested.

They were charged under Indian Penal Code Sections 294 (obscene acts in public), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), and provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, the official added.