Additional CP Vishwas Nangre-Patil says the peddler who was selling drugs at the Juhu party on Sunday may have posed as an invitee after chucking the dope during the raid
Ninety-one people detained, 110 grams of cocaine, 64 grams of charas, and ecstasy tablets recovered. But cops remain clueless about the peddler who supplied the dope and evidently disappeared without a trace. During Sunday’s operation at Oakwood hotel, Juhu, cops detained 53 men and 38 women – including 19 foreigners – at a rave party. Police have also arrested the organiser Vishay Handa. But they failed to identify the drug dealer.
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Party animals! People detained by Mumbai police during the sweep at the Oakwood hotel rave party.u00a0(below) The women detained at the party were taken to Sir JJ hospital for medical tests. PICs/VIJAY BATE, santosh nagwekar, Satyajit Desai
Sources said the peddler was in the party, but he was not arrested by the police. There are chances he chucked the drugs and masqueraded as an invitee, according to Vishwas Nangre-Patil, additional commissioner of police, West region. Police say they had information about the peddler himself selling drugs inside. However, when cops reached the spot, many invitees allegedly threw away the drugs. The peddler was reportedly well acquainted with the organiser.
Straight dope
Cops are questioning Handa about the source of the drugs. “We have also summoned the DJ for further inquiry. However, the prime focus of the investigations is to find out who the drug peddler was. It is possible that he flushed the consignment and mingled with the crowd,” said Patil. Police sources said they suspect a person named Romeo R present in the party may have supplied the drugs. However, cops are yet to disinter his real identity.
Meanwhile, police officers have identified the agent – a woman – who had supplied girls for the party. Sources said the lady in question makes similar arrangements for various events. She also gets celebrities and cricketers to attend, as she reportedly has Bollywood links. Patil said that at such rave parties, celebrities and film stars are invited by an agent, “These agents charge a fee for getting luminaries to grace such dos,” he said. The addl CP told MiD DAY he had received a tip-off some time earlier, and later confirmation, that drugs were being supplied at this particular party.
Around 7 pm, police sent an informer inside who corroborated the presence of dope at the soiree. Following this, cops carried out the raid. On entering the premises they spotted two men sitting at a table and being given VIP treatment. “The men later identified themselves as IPL players Rahul Sharma and Wayne Parnell from Pune Warriors India,” said Patil.
Clean sweep
He added that cops also observed many people dancing in semi-nude condition. “We have collected photos from the lensmen who were there. After the raid started, no person left the venue as we have recovered the CCTV recording from the hotel,” Patil said. The top cop stated that the officers then went to the DJ and ordered him to stop playing. They then announced that they were conducting a raid. The constables then delimited the crowd,” added Patil.
The attendees by then had allegedly chucked a few packets of dope from the terrace and also flushed some consignment. “We would have seized more cocaine and charas,” said Patil. The 91 people detained were sent to Cooper and Bhabha hospital for getting their urine and blood samples tested. The detainees were asked to sign an undertaking and were allowed to go. “The ones who test positive for drugs would be arrested,” Patil added.
Message delivered!
Here’s the invite to the party posted on Facebook:
THIS Sunday we
decided to bring something down… 20th of MAY, DESIGNER HIPPIES (United Beats Records, USA) ARE bringing the SUN “DOWN”
Lets rock this town- so get ready to get high.. Please do not try to FLY.. Because Flying is an illusion not a Reality,u00a0
come with us and we’ll make you feel Gravity… ;)
VENUE: AZOK, OAKWOOD, POOL SIDE
TIME: 4 pm onwards,u00a0
Electro Set
Designer Hippies
Making People Happy
Since 1999 !
*Support the Music not the Drugs
Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative. - Oscar Wilde
Rs 25,000 a table!
Juhu police said that each table at the party was sold for Rs 25,000. Patil said that more than 200 people had responded to the invite. The invitees were told to wear a rubber hand band to enter the party. Cops say the code that indicated it was a rave party was the line ‘Support the Music not the Drugs’ in the invite and the fact that Designer Hippies, who play trance music, were performing at the venue.
Telly stars in focus
Actress Shilpa Saklani and husband Apoorva Agnihotri, who were also detained from the party and sent for medical tests, spoke to the media yesterday. Shilpa said, “We had received the invites from a friend who was attending the party.
We reached the venue at 6.30 pm and as soon as we sat down, we saw cops entering the premises. They then took us to hospitals, where our blood samples were taken. We have been to the place previously too, but had no idea about the drugs. We are sure that our results are going to come out negative. There were a number of high-profile people inside the party.”
Organiser Arrested
Police have arrested the organiser of the party, identified as Vishay Handa (31), a resident of Dev Park building in Juhu. Handa, who is the manager and director of Oakwood Premier hotel had allegedly sent out invites for the rave party on his hotel website and Facebook. Patil said that Handa was seen at the party during the raid and was arrested under Section 8 (c) of the IPC, read with Sections 20, 21, 25, 27 and 29 of the NDPS Act. He was presented before the Andheri magistrate’s court where he was remanded to police custody till May 25. In his statement, Handa told the police that he did not issue the invite. He said he had been linked to the invite by someone on Facebook. Handa also said that the hotel had just rented out the Azok restaurant pools area on the terrace for a party and was not aware of the nature of the bash. Cops also arrested Amrit Sagar Chopra, who is the grandson of filmmaker Ramanand Sagar, for allegedly abusing police officers during the raid. "Amrit was in an inebriated state and abused the officers at the spot. He was arrested for stopping a government employee from conducting his duty," said Patil. Amrit was presented before the court where he was remanded to judicial custody and later released on bail of Rs 7,000. A team of four police officers will now study the Facebook invite and try to decode it, and also probe who the original sender is. u00a0
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