Nagpur: Ambazari Police raided Rhythm & Wine Bar and Restaurant (Tamasha) on Ramnagar Main Road during the early hours of Monday, busting an alleged illegal hookah party and booking the bar's owner and manager for serving flavoured hookahs to customers in violation of the law.

Acting on a tip-off, the police conducted a surprise raid at the establishment between 1.20 am and 2 am on July 27 after receiving information that customers were being served hookahs illegally late into the night.

The raid triggered panic inside the bar as police searched the premises. During the operation, officers seized four hookah pots, four hookah pipes, four containers of flavoured hookah material, and a CCTV DVR, collectively valued at around ₹8,000.

The accused have been identified as Hemant Rajkumar Gurbakshani (33), a resident of Kapil Nagar and owner of Rhythm & Wine Bar and Restaurant (Tamasha), and Brijesh Brij Prasad Pal (36), the bar's manager and a resident of Saoner.

Ambazari Police have registered a case against both under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA).

Police are investigating whether the establishment had been repeatedly operating illegal hookah services and if any additional violations were committed during the late-night operation.