LUCKNOW: Nearly 800 people were arrested and narcotics worth more than Rs 5.58 crore were seized in raids conducted under a state-wide drive against hookah bars and narcotic smugglers, police said on Monday.
Uttar Pradesh Police arrested 785 persons in raids conducted at 4,338 places across the state on Sunday.
Raids were conducted at 342 hookah bars located in 22 districts and commissionerates of Agra, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Basti, Santkabirnagar, Siddharthnagar, Etawah, Hardoi, Rae Bareli, Unnao, Ayodhya, Barabanki, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Saharanpur, Ghazipur, Azamgarh, Prayagraj, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Gautam Buddh Nagar.
As many as 702 cases have been registered in this connection, the statement added.