Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Tuesday staged a demonstration on Pune's Fergusson College Road and demanded the resignations of Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. This came in response to a viral video showing some youths with a drug-like substance at a bar named Liquid Leisure Lounge (L3) in the city.
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Led by the party's Pune City chief Prashant Jagtap, the NCP (SP) workers chanted slogans like "Jawab do jawab do, Devendra Fadnavis jawab do", "Rajinama dya rajinama dya, Devendra Fadnavis rajinama dya", "Rajinama dya rajinama dya, Ajit Pawar rajinama dya", and more. The protesters also had alcohol bottles around their necks and a white powdery substance with them to register their protest against the rising drug use in the city.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday spoke to Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar and directed him to initiate strict action against illegal pubs and bulldoze all structures flouting building rules.
"Strict action should be taken against illegal pubs to make Pune city drug-free. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has given instructions to Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar that bulldozers should be moved on illegal constructions related to drugs," said the CMO statement.
So far, the number of arrests in connection with a probe into the viral video has reached 14. Earlier, the police had arrested eight persons and suspended four personnel from the force after the bar was found operating beyond the permissible time limit.
According to the police, the bar was operating till 5am on Sunday, and liquor was being sold beyond the permissible time limit. Bars and pubs in Pune are allowed to remain open till 1:30am.
(With PTI inputs)
