Goregaon concert deaths: Accused ordered 4,000 Ecstasy pills from Europe, say police

The police said Mahesh Khemlani had ordered the party drug in two tranches through a courier to the Ulhasnagar address of a friend of his accomplice, Ayush Sahitya, who was also arrested in the drug overdose case

MUMBAI: Mahesh Khemlani, the main accused arrested in connection with the death of two MBA students due to drug overdose during a music concert in Goregaon on April 11, had ordered 4,000 Ecstasy pills from a friend in Europe, the Vanrai police told the metropolitan magistrate court at Borivali on Wednesday.

Goregaon concert deaths: Accused ordered 4,000 Ecstasy pills from Europe, say police

The police said Khemlani had ordered the party drug in two tranches through a courier to the Ulhasnagar address of a friend of his accomplice, Ayush Sahitya, who was also arrested in the drug overdose case. The accused had received 3,000 Ecstasy pills in the first tranche and the remaining in the second, the police said in their application seeking the extension of Khemlani’s police custody remand.

Khemlani, 44, a Mira Road resident, had transferred money to his supplier in Tether, a cryptocurrency, the remand application said. Khemlani and Sahitya had met their European supplier at a hotel in Mumbai, and the police need to verify the latter’s identity and track him down, the application added. The police also claimed they recovered 935 Ecstasy tablets from Khemlani and need to find out how he disposed of the remaining pills.

According to the remand application, Khemlani, Sahitya, and Vineet Gerelani, a 22-year-old college student who was also arrested in connection with the case, had met in Goa and are suspected of having connections with other accused individuals involved in the supply of narcotics across India. “We need to trace their counterparts in Goa,” said a police officer.

The magistrate court allowed the plea and extended Khemlani’s police custody remand up to May 10.

Two 24-year-old college students died after allegedly consuming drugs at a music concert at the Nesco Exhibition Centre in Goregaon on April 11, while a third student was hospitalised. Medical reports confirmed the deaths were caused by a drug overdose, specifically Ecstasy pills. Investigations revealed that some security guards and bouncers were allegedly bribed to allow drugs into the venue.

The Vanrai police have arrested 12 persons in connection with the case so far, including Khemlani’s girlfriend, Jiya Jacob, and some students of the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. The police said that Khemlani and Jacob, along with their counterparts in Europe, had employed men in their twenties to transport and distribute the Ecstasy pills, luring them with quick and easy money.