Surat: After seizing smoking roll papers from shops across the city, the Special Operations Group (SOG) police have now turned their focus to hookah outlets. The SOG teams raided three hookah shops in the posh City Light area and seized as many as 738 hookahs. Three shop owners were detained, and legal proceedings were initiated against them.SOG DCP Rajdeep Nakum told TOI, “We conducted raids at Little Goa, Dev Traders and Rohan Traders and seized hookahs along with tobacco and flavoured substances. We detained Khushalsinh Bisht, Vikas Modi, and Dharmesh Chandlekar. In addition, we seized 625 pipes along with 738 hookahs from the premises.”Police officials said they were shocked to find hookahs designed in the shape of AK-47 rifles, missiles, and other machine guns during the raids. Several suspicious items, including imported tobacco and other flavoured substances, were seized and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for further examination.Investigations revealed that the shop owners were selling the hookahs at prices ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000. The police have also sought details of customers who purchased the hookahs to verify whether minors or teenagers were sold these items.
