LUCKNOW Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on Sunday arrested four people, including a woman, for allegedly being part of drugs supplying racket and organising rave parties for young men and women at different guest houses and hotels in the city, said senior police officials. They added that the kingpin of the racket, however, is still at large.
In a press note shared with media persons, the STF officials said that the arrested accused have been identified as -- Tarun Kumar Awasthi, Pankaj Sonkar, Ajmal Hussain, and Swastika. It further said all the accused are residents of different localities of the state capital. They were all arrested at SVG Guest House in Gomti Nagar around 2.30 am on Sunday, the communique added.
Sharing further details, officials said that the STF got information about this racket through a viral video on social media platform in which some young men and women were seen counting Indian currency notes in a room while liquor bottles and hookahs were seen lying around them. They said this video surfaced on July 16. “We tracked this video and arrested them after collecting manual intelligence about their identities and movement in the city,” a senior STF official said.
The official said the arrested accused revealed that the viral video was shot by their common friend Aryan, who is into drugs supply business and purchased these drugs through different mobile applications and other online platforms. The official also said that the group often organises rave parties in different hotel rooms and invites people through social media platforms. They said that all the accused were ‘equal’ crime partners with Aryan and his close aide Lucky.
{{/usCountry}}The official said the arrested accused revealed that the viral video was shot by their common friend Aryan, who is into drugs supply business and purchased these drugs through different mobile applications and other online platforms. The official also said that the group often organises rave parties in different hotel rooms and invites people through social media platforms. They said that all the accused were ‘equal’ crime partners with Aryan and his close aide Lucky.
{{/usCountry}}The official added that Aryan had become apprehensive about the police action after posting the video and therefore, he gave ₹7 lakh to the four accused (who have now been arrested) and asked them to remain underground for some days. The STF sleuths are making further efforts to arrest Aryan and Lucky.