Nikhil Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, September 14
Despite repeated orders of the Police Commissioner that no liquor bars or restaurants will remain open after 11 pm, bar owners are hardly paying any heed to the closure timings. The Friday night incident at Castle’s Barbeque in Pavilion Mall, where Congress leader and developer Manjit Singh of GTB Nagar was shot dead by a man with his licensed weapon, has exposed security lapses at malls and multiplexes where people carry weapons without stringent checks.
Recently, the police had conducted several raids at bars which were found open after 11 pm and registered FIRs against the owners and staff member under section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the IPC. Under this section, maximum imprisonment is six months and Rs 1,000 fine. As offence under this section is bailable, bar owners facing more than one FIR continue to violate the law.
Meanwhile, the police have arrested Jaswinder Singh Bindi who shot dead Manjit with his .32-bore revolver.
When asked why the police did not take strict action against the bar owners to prevent such incidents, the Additional DCP (Investigation) Dayama Harish Kumar Omparkash said as per law, a case under section 188 IPC was registered if a bar was found open or serving liquor after 11 pm, but the police had the right to recommend cancellation of a bar licence. ”The police can even recommend licence cancellation even if a bar owner is facing one FIR or more. To teach a lesson to such offenders, the police will definitely take stringent action like this in future so that such incidents can be prevented,” said the ADCP.
‘Hang the killer who shot my husband in front of my eyes’
6
9