Mumbai: Former India cricketer Suresh Raina was arrested here early Tuesday morning for violating COVID-19 protocols. However, Suresh Raina was later granted bail. The cricketer’s management team said that Raina was not aware of the rules and that led to his arrest. It should be stated here that Raina announced his retirement from international cricket, August 15 this year.
Raina’s team issued an official release following the former cricketer’s arrest. He was among the 34 to be arrested by Mumbai police for violating COVID-19 norms.
“Suresh was in Mumbai for a shoot which extended to late hours. He was invited by a friend for a quick dinner post the shoot. He was to take the flight back to Delhi Tuesday morning itself. He was not aware of local timings and protocols,” the statement said.
“Once pointed out, he immediately complied with the procedures laid out by the authorities. Raina regrets the unfortunate and unintentional incident. He always holds rules and laws laid down by governing bodies with the highest regard and will continue to do so in the future as well,” the statement added.
Others who were arrested along with Raina were likes of singer Guru Randhawa and Suzanne Khan, ex-wife of superstar Hrithik Roshan. The raid took place around 3.00am at Dragonfly club near the Mumbai airport.
The Mumbai Police, in its statement said: “Offence has been registered u/s 188, 269, 34 IPC and u/s 51 NDMA against 34 persons at Sahar police station after raid was conducted at 2.50 AM at Dragonfly pub, for keeping establishment open beyond permissible time limit, not following COVID-19 norms such as social distancing, not wearing face mask.”