Comedian Munawar Faruqui detained by Mumbai Police for allegedly consuming illicit hookah.
Faruqi, the winner of Big Boss-17, was among the 14 individuals detained by the Mumbai police after they were found smoking hookahs during a raid in south Mumbai.
However, Faruqi has been released by the police now.
The Mumbai Police’s Social Service Branch on Tuesday conducted a raid at around 10:30 pm at a hookah parlour located in Bora Bazar area of Fort. The raid got over at 5 am on Wednesday.
“During the raid, the police found stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui and others smoking hookahs at the joint. We also have a video of their act. We detained Faruqui and others, but they were later allowed to go as the sections slapped against them were bailable,” a senior police official told PTI news agency.
According to the information received by the police, a few people in the hookah bar were smoking tobacco-based hookahs in the guise of smoking herbal hookahs.
Faruqui and others were booked under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act along with the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 283 (danger or obstruction in a public way or line of navigation), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), the police said.
The Mumbai Police served notice to Faruqi and others by the Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Marg police and released them after shortly.
Before ‘Bigg Boss 17’, Munawar gained popularity with his winning stint in the ‘Lock Upp’ reality show. He defeated co-contestant Abhishek Kumar to win the 17th season of Bigg Boss.