Police arrested one Imtiaz Ali from his hideout in Park Circus on Tuesday morning in connection with the clash that broke out in Shimmers night club at Salt Lake Sector-V in the wee hours of Sunday.
The clash between the rival groups from Park Circus in the night club took place at around four in the morning. It once again brought to light the violation of the permissible time limit of keeping night clubs and bars open post midnight.
Incidentally, the night club, which has already been sealed by the Bidhannagar Commissionerate, is owned by the son of multi-millionare bar owner Jagjit Singh, Kirat.
In November 2016, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had ordered a major crackdown on dance bars on the VIP Road. The Excise department was asked not to give
clearance for the renewal of licenses to 30 out of 45 dance bars situated in residential buildings on the VIP Road and there are criminal cases against the owners.
Stringent actions were taken against the dance bars, most of which are situated under the jurisdiction of Baguiati police station. Despite making dance bars on VIP Road follow all the norms, those in Salt Lake are still flouting the same due to lack of "proper policing".
There are around 12 bars and night clubs in Salt Lake area at present. According to sources, most flout norms by remaining open for a few hours even after midnight.
Sources said that a large section of youth involved in anti-social activities from Park Circus, Beniapukur and Rajarhat areas gather at night clubs in Salt Lake. Apart from them, some IT and ITeS professionals also chose to visit the night clubs. "Keeping the night clubs open till early morning is not the only crime. Even drugs like N 10 get sold at premium prices that youth take to get high," said a police officer on condition of anonymity.
In the wee hours of Sunday, Joheb Khan, who is a member of the Lula Haider group, was present in the night club. Members of Haider's rival group headed by Imtiaz Ali also went to the night club.
The police initially considered that Imtiaz's men had started beating up Joheb, who is at present undergoing treatment in a private hospital, following a scuffle over passing some comments at a woman in the night club. Later, investigation revealed that there was an old rivalry between the groups over share of profit for an online business that once they used to run jointly.
Based on the complaint lodged by Joheb, police arrested Imtiaz and he would be interrogated to get details about others involved in the crime.
The police, however, initiated a crackdown against the night clubs in Salt Lake as well to check criminal activities.