New Delhi, Dec 24 (PTI) The Delhi Police busted four hookah bars operating in the national capital's Punjabi Bagh area in violation of COVID-19 norms and arrested as many people, officials said on Thursday.

Four places were identified after the police received information that hookah bars were being run illegally in Punjabi Bagh. Four teams were constituted to raid these places at Club Road, a senior police officer said.

Owners or managers of these bars were arrested and four separate cases registered, the police said.

As many as 43 hookahs were recovered from these bars, they said.

In August this year, the Delhi government had banned the use of hookahs in all public places including hotels, restaurants and bars to control the spread of COVID-19.

Smoking products such as water pipes often involve the sharing of mouthpieces and hoses, which could facilitate the transmission of COVID-19 in communal and social settings, the health department had said in its order.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)