Grozny residents state power agents' anti-alcohol raids on New Year's Eve

At the New Year's night law enforcers in Chechnya conducted raids over cafes and restaurants of Grozny, during which young people drinking alcohol were detained, local residents have reported.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that at night on November 28, a road accident occurred near Grozny, which resulted in seven deaths. The driver named Alam Khadjaev, who was drunk, was the culprit of the accident. After that, the head of the republic Ramzan Kadyrov appealed to religious leaders not to deal with the funerals of the drivers, who died when they were drunk. Besides, the owners of the shops engaged in sale of alcoholic beverages ceased their operations, although Kadyrov said that there would be no official ban on sale of alcohol in the republic.

"At night on January 1, my friends and I were in a cafe in Grozny; we gathered there to celebrate the holiday. Suddenly policemen broke into the cafe. They detained and took away three guys, who were sitting at the next table and drinking alcohol. Fortunately, we had no alcohol on the table, otherwise we should have seen the New Year in at the detention centre," a resident of Grozny named Imran told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to another resident of Grozny, named Zaindi, his friends were taken away in the evening on December 31, 2016, from a cafe. "Two of my friends were detained in the evening because they were drinking alcohol in a café; they were released only yesterday, on January 1," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

A law enforcement source has confirmed the information about detentions of young people, who were consuming alcohol on the New Year's Eve. According to his story, all the detainees during the raids have already been released.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.