E-Paper
Mumbai concert deaths: Students collapsed due to dizziness; ecstasy delivered via Porter
The peddler, identified as Anand Patel, was produced before the court on Tuesday, where he was remanded to police custody till April 16.
Two college students in Mumbai were killed and one remains critical after consuming the popular party drug ecstasy at a concert on Saturday. As reported by HT, police have arrested the peddler who supplied the three students with drug.
The peddler, identified as Anand Patel, was produced before the court on Tuesday, where he was remanded to police custody till April 16. The incident occurred during a concert at NESCO Exhibition Centre in Goregaon.
What happened to the students?
Shreya Rai, 24, and Sheetal Salvi, 25, along with other classmates from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), attended the '999999999 Music Concert' at NESCO grounds on Saturday.
Rai and Salvi, who were in the crowd, experienced difficulty breathing and collapsed later due to dizziness, after which another friend of theirs rushed the two women to the hospital.
Along with them, a third person - Bismat Singh Amarjit Singh Bhasin, 28 - attended the same show and complained of dizziness and convulsions in the limbs.
Rai and Bhasin were both admitted to hospitals but died during treatment. Meanwhile, Salvi remains admitted in the ICU.
Drugs delivered through Porter, 6 arrested
In her statement to the police, Salvi stated that she and Rai consumed a yellow pill which was given to them by another friend of theirs - Raunak Khandelwal. She later clarified to cops that the pill she consumed was indeed ecstasy.
Police detained Khandelwal, where during interrogation, the name of the drug peddler was revealed. It was also revealed that the pills were supplied to the students through the Porter app.
A total of six people have been arrested. These include -
- Anand Patel - Drug peddler
- Balkrishna Kurup, 46, vice president of NESCO Exhibition Centre
- Sunny Vinod Jain, 31, who works with Kurup
- Akash Banmari Samal, 31, an employee of Nagpur-based production house Inspiring Tie Production, which organised the concert
- Raunak Rahul Khandelwal, 25, college student
- Pratik Bijesh Pandey, 24, college student
Along with the supply of drugs to college students, the organisers of the veent alos ran into trouble after police stated for not only failing to check for narcotics but also for not having the proper licensing for alcohol.
In the remand application as accessed by HT, police also stated out that “despite being fully cognizant of the prohibition under the Liquor Prohibition Act against serving alcohol to individuals under the age of 25, the organisers served alcohol to the deceased, and others, even though none of them possessed a valid liquor permit”.
