More work, more kickbacks for cops

With Supreme Court yesterday upholding an earlier Bombay High Court order that allowed dance bar owners to reapply for licences, the police department is getting ready to shake a leg. While cops say that reopening of the establishments will add to their workload, they don't think the bars would be the roaring success they were in the 90s.

Second innings: After the SC quashed the ban on dance bars in the state, bar girls, who had been put out of a job, are gearing up to make a comeback in their previous avatar. Pic/Nimesh Dave

"White-collar criminals and even petty delinquents would remain more active at night, having a good time at these places and also carrying forward their trade. This will put more burden on us," said an officer from Mulund police station. At least four to five dance bars are set to open in the area in the next few days.

But that's just the downside. "Money will also start pouring in as dance bars are bound to violate rules and deadlines. Many of them will become prostitution dens.

So, they will start bribing the police department, and officers will be lobbying to be assigned police stations that have the most number of dance bars in the vicinity. Heavy workload is a drawback for any police personnel, but he won't be complaining if he gets paid for it," the officer added.

Also, as more criminals and informers will be out at night, police officers working late will get a lot of tip-offs. "With the vigilant 24X7 media, Right to Information Act, mobiles with high-quality cameras, and the alert public, we don't expect dance bars to get the amount of business they managed in their heyday. That's also because most lawbreakers, including underworld gangsters, have now become white-collar criminals, running construction work and respected in public," said a crime branch officer.

Cops, however, may have a tougher time dealing with petty crimes. If the offenders lavish their loot on the bar girls, it will be difficult for the police to recover the booty. In the past chain snatchers, robbers and cons have spent lakhs on these women. In fact, convicted counterfeiter Abdul Karim Telgi had squandered around Rs 90 lakh in a single night on a bar girl.

With elections around the corner, cops believe a lot of black money will start circulating, a part of which will be spent on the girls.

Auto and taxi drivers too will benefit, as underprivileged girls from across the country will start arriving in the city to get into the business.

These girls usually have a fixed taxi or auto to commute between home and workplace late at night.

"Jewellers, stockbrokers and businessmen from Mumbai and other places like Nashik, Kalyan, Pune and Gujarat also visit the dance bars.

Rs 90L
The amount Abdul Karim Telgi had splurged in a single night on a bar girlu00a0