Purple haze over Juhu nightclub

Three months after a rave was busted in Juhu, the third and final chemical analysis report released last week stated 92 per cent of the revellers were high.

The third report was for tests conducted on 83 people and it said 81 of them had consumed drugs. Two chemical analysis reports previously released had nailed 146 of the 163 tested.

All 36 young women who were at the party were found to have consumed drugs; 176 of the 195 young men tested positive.

Most of the women were found to have consumed a drug commonly known as Ecstasy. Of the 176 men found positive in the tests, 152 were said to have consumed charas or ganja and the remaining 24, Ecstasy.

Besides these, there were also 15 people who are the main accused in the case. Of these, 13 people, including a woman, were found to have consumed drugs.

What happened

On October 5, the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) raided a restaurant-cum-bar called Bombay 72 Degree East on Juhu-Tara Road and found 246 people there, including drug peddlers, models, fashion designers, businessmen and students.

The ANC raid followed a tip-off that charas, ganja, Ecstasy, LSD and cocaine were being sold by peddlers at a trance party at the pub.

The ANC raided the pub at 11 pm and arrested 15 people, including nine alleged drug peddlers, two assistant managers and a DJ, for possession of narcotics and conspiracy to sell banned substances.

Besides these, 231 youngsters — 195 men and 36 women — were picked up on suspicion of having consumed narcotics and psychotropic substances.

That made a total of 246 people who had to be put through a medical examination at various government hospitals, where their blood and urine samples were taken for chemical analysis.

The arrested drug peddlers were identified as Rahul Karmarkar, an Israeli named Ben Simone who was the disc jockey at the trance, Rajesh Talwar, Salil Roy, Wheelan Bretto, Sameer Shah, Salil Kothari, Kashish Malkani and one woman, Anuradha Sanyal, the daughter of a senior army officer.

The charges

The various accused were booked under different sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, for offences such as possession, consumption and illegal peddling of drugs, and harbouring of offenders.

The evidence

The 15 arrested from the spot for drug peddling were found in possession of narcotics and psychotropic substances, which included marijuana, cannabis, Ecstasy (104 tablets), cocaine and LSD (850 drops), altogether worth Rs 9.57 lakh in the illegal drugs market.

The police also recovered Rs 1.56 lakh in cash from the possession of the conspirators.

The blood and urine samples of the 246 people nabbed were sent for chemical analysis at the Forensics Science Laboratory in Kalina. The results revealed that 227 revellers had tested positive for consumption of drugs.

What next?

The 15 main accused have been arrested and 90 of the young people who tested positive for consumption of drugs have surrendered and subsequently got bail.

The youngsters found in possession of drugs for consumption could face between six months and one year in prison.

The punishment for those arrested for possession of drugs for trafficking can range from seven to 10 years. Depending on the gravity of the offence and whether the traffickers were repeat offenders, it may also extend to capital punishment.

“As and when we received the medical reports, notices were issued to all those who had tested positive that they should surrender before the police in 10 days,” said Deputy Police Commissioner, ANC (additional charge), Vishwas Nangre-Patil. “Everyday, a couple of youths have been surrendering before us.”

Tomorrow: The Arun Gawli extortion and murder case