'Party (Nahin) Chalegi Till 6 In The Morning': Police after booking Raina, Sussanne & co

Mumbai Police in the early hours of Tuesday booked cricketer Suresh Raina, singer Guru Randhawa, Sussanne Khan and others for not following Covid-19 protocols after a raid at a Mumbai club. According to sources, singer-rapper Badshah was present at the venue but left from the rear exit when the police arrived.

After the incident, the city police on its Twitter handle used a line from a popular Bollywood song and said that party will not last till six in the morning. "Party (Nahin) Chalegi Till Six In The Morning!" Mumbai Police tweeted along with giving out details of the incident. 

"A raid was conducted at a nightclub in Andheri at around 3 am, for flouting COVID prevention norms. Action has been initiated against 34 people, out of which 19 were from Delhi & Punjab, including some celebrities #NewNormal" it added.

Police's official statement on raid and booking of celebrities

Offence registered u/s 188, 269, 34 IPC and u/s 51 NDMA against 34 persons at Sahar police station after raid was conducted at 2.50 AM at Dragonfly pub, for keeping establishment open beyond permissible time limit, not following Covid norms such as social distancing, not wearing face mask.

As per sources, the Bombay Police Act and Epidemic Disease Acts were also invoked. 

All the people booked have been released on the notice of CrPC 41(a)(1), sources said. In total, action has been taken on 34 people, including hotel staff. Of the 34, 19 people had come in from Delhi and Punjab, sources said. The persons from outside Mumbai have returned to Delhi via a 7 am flight.

Mumbai readies for night curbs

The raids come at a time when the Maharashtra government on Monday declared a night curfew in municipal corporation areas. Meanwhile, the Mumbai civic administration moved to enforce restrictions and make arrangements to quarantine air passengers arriving from Britain, where a new COVID-19 variant is spreading fast, and some other countries.

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The state government has declared a night curfew in municipal corporation areas (cities) from December 22 to January 5 as a precautionary measure amid growing concerns over the new Coronavirus variant spreading in Britain.

As per the state government directive, a curfew between 11 pm and 6 am will be enforced in the financial capital till January 5, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner I S Chahal said at a press conference. Chahal said essential services like vegetable and milk supply will remain unaffected during the night curfew but more than five people can not assemble at a place during the seven- hour-long period.

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(With agency inputs)