Hyderabad: The death of cobbler T. Ashok, who was killed while he was asleep on the road side the other day, by a car driven by an engineering girl student at Kushaiguda, reveals that restro bars, clubs are still serving alcohol to underage youth, a highly prohibited act.
The city has not yet forgotten the sad death of little Ramya, a victim of drunken driving. The 10-year-old and two others from the same family were killed by two drunken boys when their vehicle ramped into them at Panjagutta graveyard. The boys, below 21 years, were then returning after an alcohol party at Thank God Its Friday (TGF) Restro Bar- Banjara Hills which was then shut down for months by the Excise Department for the violation. The Up Roof Top Lounge Bar at A. S Rao Nagar is the second restro bar in the city that faced the law for violating rules.
Kushaiguda police inspector Chandrashekar told DC that it was found that the management of Up Roof Top Lounge bar at A. S Rao Nagar served liquor to a girl Harika Reddy, who was in the car that killed the cobbler the other day, without collecting any age proof document. Harika’s blood alcohol concentration was recorded as 130 mg/ dl. She is 20-years-old. Out of the four girls, who were there in the car, Ishanya Pathireddy, Srujana Kowta and Amrutha Bharathi, only Harika Reddy had consumed liquor from the bar.
A fresh CCTV footage recorded at the Lounge shows the four girls, involved in the case, with a male friend. This is likely to work as an evidence against the lounge management. Also, the police informed that the Restro bar did not check their Aadhaar card, a rule set by the Prohibition and Excise Department of TS.
It should be recalled that, less than seven months ago, the city reported the murder of a 17-year-old girl, a student of Silver Oaks School. The investigation revealed that she, along with other minors, were served alcohol at a city-based hotel. This incident too then raised the issue of minors at pubs.
Following these incidents, the Prohibition and Excise Department has directed the owners of all pubs, across Hyderabad, to ensure that their customers carry Aadhaar cards to prove their age. Importantly, those below 21 years of age will not be allowed to enter any pub.
When the matter of underage youth being served liquor was briefed to the Principal Secretary of the state prohibition and Excise Department Somesh Kumar, he said, “ Restro bars and clubs have a board mentioning that no liquor will be served to under aged.”
