Hyderabad: The decision of the South Zone police to go tough on Mission Chabutra — meant to round up youth loitering on streets — has gained the appreciation of residents, but they can‘t quite understand why they are going easy on hotels and restaurants which are open past midnight. Mr Karim Ansari an activist in the Old City, said, “Unless and until the hotels which are open till late hours are regulated, youngsters will keep roaming around till late at night. The police has failed to take strict action against these hotels.”
He said many new hotels near Barkas were kept open till 2 am. He said, “The police patrols just make a trip and leave. In many areas even this patrolling is not seen. As a result, the youths keep hanging around these hotels.” If the police wanted the youths to return home early, they have to understand the root cause of their staying out late at night. Another activist, Mr Md Abdul Akram, said, “Now that the summer holidays have begun the scenario will change in the Old City. Many youngsters are found smoking and roaming on bikes. These days there is a lot of demand for mandi and hookah, so most of them are found hovering near the outlets offering the services. But the police is never seen raiding these shops or instructing them to shut down by midnight.”
Asked about this, deputy commissioner of police, South Zone, V. Satyanarayana, patrolling had been increased in the Old City. “We are closely monitoring the establishments. The closure timings is 12 midnight, and they are given a grace time of one hour. If they are still operating after the grace time ends, we are booking cases against them and producing them before court.” “It’s not that we are only focusing on Mission Chabutra, but we are constantly keeping a tight vigil on these hotels and hookah parlours,” Mr Satyanara-yana said.
