Assistant Commissioner of police  Vasant Dhoble

Another patron who was there to meet a prospective employer fled because he was not sure how the footage would be used. "I did not want to risk my current employers finding out that I was in talks with someone else," he said. Some people even left without collecting their credit cards, added another patron requesting anonymity.Vasant Dhoble, top dog at the suddenly omnipresent and omnipotent Social Services branch, confirmed that he had raided café Zoe owned by Tarini Mohindar, Viraf Patel and Jeremie Horowitz and which opened in February this year. 

"When I entered I saw the place was overcrowded," he said. A 1960 rule of the Bombay Police Act stipulates that there cannot be more than 166 people per thousand square feet. Zoe is 3000 sq feet and, according to the owners, can comfortably seat 150 people in the dining area and the bar. But that evening no one was counting, not even Dhoble.

"As soon as I entered people began to leave but the place seemed to be overflowing," he told this newspaper, adding that people were dancing. He said that he always videographs the raids he conducts for “evidence”.The owners of Zoe were fined for overcrowding and also for having a deejay playing music without a proper performance license. A spokesperson for the establishment admitted that while they had all the other requisite permissions they had yet to get a performance license. "The police have confiscated the music system and the console." The Café owners were charged Rs 12,500 for each violation.