A special police team, formed by Additional Commissioner of Police Vishwas Nangre-Patil, arrested a peddler on Thursday night, who is suspected to have supplied drugs to partygoers at Hotel Oakwood in suburban Juhu on May 20.
The suspect, Bakul Chandaliya (38), was nabbed red-handed with four grams of cocaine from outside his video rental shop on Ambedkar Road in Khar (W), after police sent a decoy customer to make a purchase.u00a0
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Nabbed: Cops arrest Bakul Chandaliya
Patil formed a special team comprising officers from various police stations in Mumbai (west region), including police inspectors Gyaneshwar Ganore, Shailendra Dhivar and S Varal, and assistant police inspectors Rajendra Kane and Mukund Yadav.
Who is suspected to have supplied drugs to partygoers at Hotel Oakwood in suburban Juhu on May 20. Over 90 people were detained and subjected to blood and urine tests
Chandaliya’s arrest comes after much criticism over failure on part of the police in nabbing the peddler who supplied
narcotics at the venue on the day of the bust.
Past links
According to a police officer who is part of the special team, the suspect has links with the main accused who supplied dope at the 2008 rave party at a Juhu pub, which was busted by the police.
Another police source said the suspect was operating for the past five years and was inconspicuously peddling drugs at his shop.
Patil said, “The suspect has links with several other drug peddlers and many high-profile people are on his client list. Also, members of the film industry have been linked with the accused and we are investigating that angle.”
Responding to questions on whether Chandaliya directly supplied drugs to attendees at the Oakwood Hotel party, Patil said, “The suspect has many links and has been involved in such cases before. We are investigating that angle as well.”
Following the raid, police detained 92 individuals and sent them to various city hospitals to undergo blood and urine tests. While 44 persons tested positive for drug abuse, test results of others – including two IPL cricketers – are awaited.
The Sessions Court has directed 27 people, who applied for anticipatory bail in the rave party case, to directly approach the police and seek regular bail. u00a0u00a0
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