Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said a coordinated nationwide drive against gambling, online gambling and drugs will be launched after April 30.
He made the remarks on Monday, the 22nd day of the first session of the 13th National Parliament, in response to a notice submitted under Rule 71 by MP Zainul Abdin Farroque.
The notice raised concerns over illegal shisha lounges operating under the guise of restaurants and cafés in residential buildings in upscale areas of the capital.
In reply, the Home Minister said shisha has been listed as a category ‘Kha’ narcotic under the Narcotics Control Act 2018 (amended in 2020). He noted that the government has identified drugs as a national problem and made clear commitments in its election manifesto to combat them.
He added that shisha lounge owners have filed five writ petitions against the state in an attempt to continue their illegal businesses. However, following appeals by the Department of Narcotics Control, the Appellate Division vacated the interim orders.
The minister further said that on April 8, 2016, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued directives to shut down unauthorized shisha lounges, terming them drug hotspots, and instructed law enforcement agencies to take coordinated and strict action.
He said that during a drive conducted on April 16 in Gulshan-2, the Department of Narcotics Control seized approximately five kilograms of shisha and 35 hookahs from an illegal establishment named “The Courtyard Bazaar Lounge”. In a separate operation at another establishment operating as a “Shisha Lounge Restaurant”, four kilograms of shisha and eight hookahs were seized.
To prevent such illegal businesses from resuming operations under new names or locations, intelligence surveillance has been intensified and strict legal action is being continued against those involved, he added.
The minister also said that alongside contesting writ petitions in the High Court Division, the Department of Narcotics Control has been conducting regular drives against shisha bars. The issue of illegal shisha lounges operating under the cover of restaurants and cafés in residential areas has also come to the attention of the Dhaka North City Corporation.
Such activities are harmful to public health, urban order and law and order, and are unacceptable under any circumstances, he said.
He further noted that surveillance is ongoing to ensure that illegal shisha lounges cannot operate by changing addresses or hiding within residential premises. Building owners are being made aware through beat policing to prevent such activities.
Any police personnel found supporting such businesses will face disciplinary action in accordance with the rules, he warned.
Referring to the government’s election manifesto, the minister reiterated a zero-tolerance policy against gambling, online gambling and drugs, adding: “After April 30, we will launch a coordinated nationwide drive. There is no alternative to protecting the country’s youth.”
