The Mumbai police say dancing girls are forced to hide in cavities made through structural alterations, which civic body personnel could identify with the help of floor plans
A file picture of former police officer Vasant Dhoble showing a hidden chamber found in a raid at Ratna Park bar in Andheri
The Mumbai police has started a fresh drive, this time, with the help of the BMC, to identify hidden cavities in bars in the city where the dancing girls are hidden when they raid them. This is a fallout of the recent Deepa Bar raid, in which dancers were found hiding in secret chambers. The top brass of the Mumbai police asked all police stations in the city to rope in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Officials have asked police personnel to write to the local ward offices and carry out inspections of bars and restaurants.
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Dangerous for dancing girls
The police said that these cavities are made in the bars with structural alterations and hence, only BMC officials could help identify these secret spots with the help of floor plans. “Many times the bar managers who tend to break the rules of having minimum dancers on the floor, stuff the girls in these cavities, fearing police actions. The girls are forced to stay inside without ventilation and it could prove fatal for them. In the past, during police raids, some girls were found unconscious in those hidden spots,” an officer, who served the Social Service Branch in the past, said.
“As far as cavities and structural changes are concerned, the BMC is primarily responsible. Officials must check them while renewing the licence. During my tenure I have seen cavities which could lead to death due to suffocation,” said Vasant Dhoble, a former police officer. When the Mumbai police's Social Service Branch raided the Deepa Bar in Andheri East, they found a hidden chamber and 17 girls crammed inside it.
Recently, after a request by the Andheri police, the BMC acted against two bars in Andheri East—Pink Villa and Urvashi—wherein hidden chambers, cavities and illegal structures were demolished. One hidden chamber was found behind a mirror in one bar while in the other bar a secret exit was revealed behind a cupboard.
Police stations write to BMC wards
The Pant Nagar police station has five bars in its jurisdiction, and its Senior Inspector Suhas Kamble said, “We have written a letter to ward officials to carry out an inspection there.” Nehru Nagar Senior Inspector Chandrashekhar Bhabal also said, “As soon as we received orders, we have written a letter to the local ward officer to carry out an inspection.”
Additional Commissioner (North) Pravin Padwal said, “We have received the instructions and I have asked all the police stations to comply as soon as possible.” In November 2019 also, the BMC was roped in to check the structures of bars and restaurants. A senior police officer said, “It's the job of BMC officials to carry out such inspections on a regular basis. But it doesn’t happen, so we have told our men to get these checks done.”
Prashant Sakpale, Additional Municipal Commissioner K-East who carried out the inspection in Andheri, said, “We had received a letter from Andheri police station demanding the checking of eight bars in the ward. We have also received a letter from MIDC police station and we are planning action soon.”
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