Cop-puccino

"We had complaints that these places were being used by pimps to solicit clients. It was also alleged that some of the coffee shop guys were hand-in-glove with such "agents".

Complainants said that when customers finish their tea or coffee they were asked to leave, but pimps and sex workers were allowed to sit there for long hours. "So I asked the local police to make a survey of such places and tighten things up," said Bihari.

"Our job is to serve tea, coffee and milk shakes. It's not written on a girl's forehead whether she's a prostitute. We are a well-respected and popular organisation with a chain of outlets all over. Would you believe we would support such illegal activities?" said Chandra Sena, the day manager at Cafe Coffee Day.

Similarly, the man at the Barista counter said the police action had inconvenienced a lot of patrons. "Nobody prevents the police from making periodical checks. But it seems they think whoever comes here is of dubious character," he said.

Perhaps the worst hit is Fanoos, popular for its hookahs, milk-shakes and Lebanese food. "Middle-class families from places like Agripada and Nagpada also come here to have a taste of our dal gosht and biryani. If such actions continue, I'll be finished," said its owner Zaffar Noor Mohammed. "You cannot say who's what among the customers. Supposing I go and ask a girl if she's a prostitute and she turns out to be from a reputed family, what will happen to me? We are ready to co-operate with the police but this is not the way they should treat us," he said.

Jami Jaffri, a local Congressman and the guy who has been trying to weed out prostitution in the area said, "We want these coffee shops to have genuine customers and not become an adda for call girls. But recent police action seems too stringent. Their actions should be balanced. Many decent people come to these joints. Strugglers discuss their plans over a cup of coffee."

Meanwhile, Bihari took note of customers' grievances when he told DNA on Sunday, "We just want the bad people to keep off such places. I'm planning to relax the recent curbs looking for the larger interest of genuine customers. But the managers of such places should keep the police informed if they find suspicious-looking people hanging around their place."

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"If the police think that removing chairs and tables from outside Barista and other coffee shops will solve the problem (of prostitution), they are making a mistake. Strange things are happening elsewhere in Mumbai, but I have never come across anything seedy at the coffee shops in Oshiwara, where they have clamped down," said actor Rakshanda Khan. Khan is a regular at the Oshiwara Barista.

DNA on Monday carried a story of how the cops had banned the outdoor sitting at Barista, Cafe Coffee Day and Fanoos near Oshiwara crossing. Representatives of the coffee shops are likely to call on additional commissioner of police (North) Bipin Bihari, who had ordered the clampdown, on Tuesday.

"We had to take action as many residents complained about the objectionable goings-on in these places. I know joints like Barista and Cafe Coffee Day have a good reputation, but some pimps tried to use these places to solicit clients, which forced us to take action," said Bihari.

A Barista client pointed out that if these joints had made outdoor sitting arrangements without permission, it was the BMC's job to crack down.

Defending outdoor sitting, Fanoos owner Zaffer Noor Mohammed said, "The building owner never objected."

Police Commissioner AN Roy said that no one could run a restaurant without a police licence. "Why should we play spoilsport? But we will definitely not allow anti-social elements to use popular joints to their advantage," he said.