Since the dance bars were routinely frequented even by the mafia operatives, police found them a rich source of gathering intelligence on various crimes.
The business became so lucrative that many regular family restaurants converted to dance bars to cash in on the craze - which figured prominently in the international print and electronic media.
It was in March 2005 that then Home Minister R.R. Patil hinted that the government planned to ban dance bars in view of the unsavoury activities reportedly thriving there and as these allegedly corrupted the young.
By April that year, dance bars were banned in the state except Mumbai, but following a hue and cry, even the city was brought under the ban.
In May 2005, the Maharashtra State Commission for Women frowned on dancing, but said women could work as waitresses in bars.
