9 college students in Powai drug bust

Nine college students from well-to-do families were detained for consuming drugs at a Powai shopping complex on Monday.

Nine college students from well-to-do families were detained for consuming drugs at a Powai shopping complex on Monday.

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Residents of the plush Hiranandani complex and surrounding areas, they were picked up by Powai police on Monday (see box for profile).

Around 8.30 pm, the Powai police got a tip-off that a group of students were consuming drugs at Powai Plaza, a shopping complex in the area. “They were consuming charas and ganja rolled into cigarettes,” said Prakash Mutyal, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone X.

Powai police officials said the students, aged 18-21, got their supplies from a 65-year-old woman whom they have arrested. “The peddler, Paro Bai Shinde (65), is a widow and lives at Chaitanya Nagar in Powai,” said Mutyal.

“She has been peddling drugs for 10 years now and lived with her daughter-in-law. Her husband, who died some years ago, was reportedly also a peddler, who taught his wife the business,” said an officer on condition of anonymity.

The police said they were tipped off by the Hiranandani complex’s private security guards. The arrested youths were regulars at the spot where they were arrested. On several occasions, the guards had made them leave but they returned.
The students were released on bail of Rs 15,000 each.