Mumbai: The grand wedding plans of a Kanpur-based lawyer, scheduled for Monday, might have to be deferred as he has landed up in Thane prison after being arrested with 29 others during a Kandivali dance bar raid where he was hosting a ‘bachelors’ party’.
The police invoked Section 370 (immoral trafficking and buying or disposing of any person as a slave) against Faizan Ansari picked up at Nityanand Bar and Restaurant on Akurli Road on December 16. The matter is being heard by the Dindoshi Sessions Court, which granted bail to nine people, including Mr. Ansari on Saturday.
Advocate Vikas Singh said that Mr. Ansari remains in jail despite having secured bail for a bond of ₹30,000 and surety of like amount. Bail formalities could not be completed on time, he said, as the surety amount was to be deposited in the Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, though the matter was heard in the Dindoshi Sessions Court. Unfortunately for Mr. Ansari, the court is closed for three days.
Mr. Singh and family members of Mr. Ansari, who have rushed to Mumbai after learning of his arrest, then moved a night judge, who then ordered that the bail bond and surety be deposited at the police station. With that having been done at 3.30 a.m., the Ansari family completed the submission of bail documents to the Thane jail authorities only at 10.30 a.m. on Sunday. “The authorities have delayed the procedure by a day. I cannot comment on the wedding of my client. We hope to get him out of jail on Monday morning,” Mr. Singh said. Family members said it is not clear whether the wedding will proceed as planned.
The raid was conducted by a team of the Social Service Branch which found women and girls dancing at the bar, which is meant to operate as a regular sit-down bar and restaurant. A total of 57 people were picked up and handed over to the Samta Nagar police.
Inspector Ramdev Waghmare from Samta Nagar police station said that the 57 people included the manager, cashier, 12 steward-cum-waiters, 29 customers, and others. “A total of 39 girls, including 14 minors, were rescued. The minors were sent to a juvenile remand room, while the others were allowed to go.” “We had arrested the accused for trafficking women. We are investigating to find out where the women were brought from,” Mr. Waghmare said. The police also seized musical instruments and ₹49,540 in cash.
