Nagpur: In a crackdown on illegal hookah parlours, Crime Branch Unit 2 raided Fusion Café located at Anand Bhandar Building in Dharampeth, Sitabuldi, on Monday, March 10 evening.

During the raid conducted between 6:30 PM and 8:00 PM, café owner Mayank Gaurishankar Agrawal (37) and manager Bittu Kisan Markam (25) were caught red-handed serving banned tobacco-based hookah products to customers for financial gain.

The police seized 11 hookah pots, various flavored tobacco products, and other related items valued at ₹26,860.

A case has been registered against the accused at Sitabuldi Police Station under sections 4(1), 5(1), and 21 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, as amended by the Maharashtra Act of 2018.

The seized items and the accused were handed over to Sitabuldi police for further action.

The operation was conducted under the guidance of Police Commissioner Ravinder Kumar Singal, Joint CP Nisar Tamboli, Additional CP (Crime) Sanjay Patil, DCP (Detection) Rahul Maknikar, and ACP (Crime Branch) Abhijit Patil. The raid was led by PI Shubhangi Deshmukh, along with PSI Chambhare and other personnel.