Retired Indian cricketer Suresh Raina’s management team has said that the left-handed batsman did not know the local timings and COVID-19 protocols in Mumbai. That is after he was present in the club raided by Mumbai Police. The Chennai Super Kings mainstay Suresh Raina, Singer Guru Randhawa and designer Suzanne Khan were amongst the 34 arrested by Mumbai Police for violating COVID-19 protocols set by the government.

The Story Of Suresh Raina And What His Team Said?

The cricketer was in the Dragonfly Experience, Andheri when the police conducted a raid. The club was hosting a party well past the cut off time and there was no social distancing maintained, reports stated.

However, the cricketer and the other celebrities were bailed immediately. I’m fact Suresh Raina’s media team has issued a statement saying he wasn’t aware of the protocols but when pointed the Indian batsman conformed. They said this was purely unintentional and Suresh Raina will always hold the rules.

Raina’s management team quoted, “Suresh was in Mumbai for a shoot which extended to late hours and was invited by a friend for a quick dinner post the same prior to him taking his flight back to Delhi. He was not aware of the local timings and protocols. Once pointed out, he immediately complied with the procedures laid out by the authorities and 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 Reaction Of Mumbai Police And The Message That They Sent Out

Mumbai Police later took on to their social media to caste a little humour to the situation. They Tweeted something hilarious out too, which caught the attention of the Twitteratti.

Below is the Tweet sent out by then, which drew mixed reactions-

Party (Nahin) Chalegi Till Six In The Morning!

A raid was conducted at a nightclub in Andheri at around 3 am, for flouting COVID prevention norms

Action has been initiated against 34 people, out of which 19 were from Delhi & Punjab, including some celebrities #NewNormal

— Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) December 22, 2020

After a lockdown of more than six months, bars and hotels in Maharashtra reopened on October 4th with stringent protocols in place. The deadline for the local pubs and clubs to shut down has been set at 11:30 PM.

However, where the raid was carried on was open until 4 am. A case has been filed in order to book the nightclub called Dragonfly near the airport for publicly flouting the rules and regulations during an ongoing pandemic. In addition to that masks were not donned and social distancing wasn’t maintained either.

What Next For Suresh Raina And Co.?

There were 13 women amongst the arrested. They were allowed to leave immediately after being served with notices. The men were arrested and granted bail later. The Mumbai Police confirmed that the raid was conducted after the club remained open beyond the permissible time limit. They had violated the COVID-19 norms and hence would have been fined too.

Suresh Raina has been out of action since he practised for the Indian Premier League earlier this year. The cricketer announced retirement on August 15, along with MS Dhoni. He did not play the IPL and returned home. Raina has represented India in  18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20s.