Former India cricketer Suresh Raina along with 34 others were arrested in Mumbai after a raid at the Mumbai Dragonfly club near the Mumbai airport for allegedly flouting COVID-19 norms. The cricketer was later released on bail.
The raid was made after the club was found open beyond the allowed time-limit and wasn’t following the COVID-19 norms. The raid was conducted at around 3 am on Tuesday.
Along with Raina, singer Guru Randhawa and Bollywood celebrity and ex-wife of actor Hrithik Roshan Suzanne Khan were arrested, along with seven staff members of the Mumbai Club.
According to Mumbai Police 34 arrested were booked under sections 188 and 269 of the Indian Penal Code and section 51 of the National Disaster Management Act.
In an official statement, the Mumbai Police said, “…offence has been registered u/s 188, 269, 34 IPC and u/s 51 NDMA against 34 persons at Sahar police station after raid was conducted at 2.50 AM at Dragonfly pub, for keeping establishment open beyond permissible time limit, not following Covid norms such as social distancing, not wearing face mask.”
Later Raina’s management team released a statement saying, “Suresh Raina was in Mumbai for a shoot which extended to late hours and was invited by a friend for a quick dinner post the same prior to him taking his flight back to Delhi. He was not aware of the local timings & protocols.”
“Once pointed out, he immediately complied with the procedures laid out by the authorities and regrets the unfortunate and unintentional incident. He always holds rules and laws laid down by governing bodies with the highest regard and will continue to do so in the future as well,” the statement further read.
This comes after Maharashtra Government imposed night curfew (11 pm to 6 am) in the state from 15 days starting December 22 till January 5. This precautionary step is taken amid growing concerns over a new coronavirus variant spreading in Britain apart from putting restrictions on flight movements.
