After the Palghar police recently raided a hookah parlour, its owner was arrested on Monday for allegedly conspiring to poison an employee of a pizza shop next to it in Vasai (West). According to the police, the accused, Aftab Ashfaq Parikh, 36, believed that the victim, Jitendra, had given a tip-off to the police, which had led to the raid.

Eight days ago, the police had carried out the raid and booked Parikh under the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COPTA). Jitendra's elder brother Dipesh, told mid-day that his brother called him and narrated the story after he was attacked.