Cops to keep tab on lavish patrons to track their source of income; state intelligence suspects fake currency is being pumped in by ISI agents
Cops to keep tab on lavish patrons to track their source of income; state intelligence suspects fake currency is being pumped in by ISI agents
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BAR, BAR DEKHO: A dancer at a popular bar easily earns above u00a0Rs 1 lakh a night, even after the bar owner is given up to 60 per cent of the share. u00a0REPRESENTATION PIC |
Former deputy CM R R Patil may be all smiles right now to see that his fight against city's dance bars is still on. More than 900 bars and 10,000 dancers across Mumbai and Thane have come under the scanner again, as the government has launched a campaign to keep a tab on patrons spending huge amounts in bars. This will help unearth their source of income.
The recent spending pattern at bars has alerted cops. On an average, cops recover around Rs 2 lakh per bar during raids. According to sources, this amount is believed to be just the tip of the iceberg. Only last month, the cops recovered Rs 11 lakh during a raid on Star Night bar at Santacruz. Though some dancers had tipped off Social Service Branch officials about two patrons who spent around Rs 62 lakh that night, they were late to raid the bar due to lack of manpower.
The state intelligence department has also launched a parallel investigation, as they suspect many patrons could be using fake notes pumped into the country by Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agents.
New planSenior officials have confirmed that a new plan has been chalked out not only to track the source of money spent on bars but also check if bar owners have terror or underworld links.
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More raidsThus, the frequency of raids is expected to go up in the coming weeks. Sources said that the BMC will check the land records of bars across the city as well. Also, a few bar dancers have turned informers to give tip offs on suspicious patrons. "Our men are already on the job," said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Deven Bharti.u00a0
Mistress by day
Many bar dancers double up as mistresses during the daytime. A dancer at a popular bar easily earns above Rs 1 lakh a night, even after the bar owner is given up to 60 per cent of the share.
On an average each bar employs around 10 bar girls. Most of these dancers are from Bedias tribes who migrate from villages near Agra and Dholpur in Uttar Pradesh, while some hail from villages in West Bengal.
