International arm wrestler Kyle Cummings granted bail in drug case

The Bombay High Court granted bail to arm wrestler Kyle Cummings, accused of drug trafficking, citing procedural lapses in his arrest.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday granted bail to Kyle Cummings, a 23-year-old Pune-based arm wrestler accused of ordering prohibited drugs from Belgium. Cummings, who has represented India in international arm-wrestling competitions, was arrested in May 2024 along with two others for allegedly procuring methamphetamine and MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy.

International arm wrestler Kyle Cummings granted bail in drug case

The case was initiated by the Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch (SIIB) of Customs, which intercepted a suspicious parcel following specific intelligence on co-accused Shrawan Joshi. Upon inspection, the parcel was found to contain 230 grams of MDMA and 51 grams of methamphetamine. Authorities set up a controlled delivery operation using a dummy parcel, which led to Joshi’s arrest when he collected the package.

During questioning, Joshi implicated Cummings, stating that he had collected the parcel on Cummings’s behalf. A third individual, Aryan Haldankar, was also arrested, though his role in the alleged crime remains unclear. The trio was charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Cummings was previously denied bail by a sessions court, which cited substantial evidence of his involvement. However, his lawyer, Lakshmi Raman, successfully argued before the High Court that the wrestler’s arrest was unlawful due to procedural lapses. Raman pointed to a prior Division Bench order granting bail to Joshi on similar grounds, noting a defect in his arrest memo. Cummings’s arrest memo was identical, she contended, warranting parity in treatment.

The prosecution opposed the bail plea, asserting that Cummings was the primary conspirator who used Joshi’s name and address to procure the drugs. Despite their objections, Justice Manish Pitale ruled in favour of Cummings, granting him bail.

The court imposed stringent conditions for his release, including mandatory monthly reporting to the Airport Special Cargo Commissionerate in Andheri East, Mumbai, on the first Monday of each month until the trial concludes.