Rave parties for celebs: ANC questions social media influencer Orry

The social media influencer had been summoned by the Ghatkopar ANC unit last week but had sought more time, saying he was out of the city

MUMBAI: The Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of Mumbai police on Wednesday questioned social media influencer Orhan Awatramani aka Orry for nearly eight hours in connection with the probe into an alleged drug trafficking syndicate linked to the Dawood Ibrahim gang.

Social media influencer Orhan Awatramani aka Orry was questioned by the ANC on Wednesday. (Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times)

“Orry appeared before the Ghatkopar ANC unit today, and was quizzed about claims made by Mohammad Salim Mohammad Suhail Shaikh who was deported from Dubai recently,” a police officer familiar with the matter told Hindustan Times. “He denied all allegations and connections with the arrested accused. He might be questioned again as the investigation progresses.”

The social media influencer had been summoned by the Ghatkopar ANC unit last week but had sought more time, saying he was out of the city.

Shaikh, an alleged drug trafficker linked with the Dawood Ibrahim gang, told the police after being deported from Dubai that he had supplied drugs for rave parties in Mumbai and Dubai attended by various celebrities. Apart from Orry, attendees at the parties included the son of Dawood’s deceased sister Haseena Parkar, actors Nora Fatehi, Shraddha Kapoor and Siddhanth Kapoor, film producers Abbas-Mustan, rapper Loka, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Zeeshan Siddique, Shaikh told police during interrogation. The metropolitan magistrate court was apprised about these claims via ANC’s remand application for Shaikh dated November 13.

The case dates back to August 2022, when the crime branch and the Ghatkopar ANC arrested Shaikh from Nagpada, and recovered mephedrone (MD) worth ₹1.19 lakh from him. Several other alleged drug peddlers were arrested subsequently, while the big breakthrough came in March 2024, when an MD-manufacturing facility in a farm in Sangli district was busted.

The facility was allegedly controlled by wanted drug trafficker Salim Dola and his son Taher, sources said. Taher was deported from the United Arab Emirates and arrested by Mumbai police in June this year, while his relative, Mustaffa Mohammad Khubbawala, was deported a month later. Dola is said to be close to Dawood Ibrahim gang.

“The raw material required to make MD in Sangli was provided by Khubbawala from Surat. From Sangli, the bulk of the manufactured drugs would be sent to Mira Road,” said a police officer.

The traffickers used luxury cars like Mercedes and BMWs to transport the drugs, to avoid raising suspicion, and the money collected from distributors was sent to the key players who operated the network from Dubai via hawala channels, the officer said.