44 people at rave party test positive for drugs, face arrest
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As many as 44 out of the 92 people rounded up during a high-profile rave party at a plush hotel in suburban Juhu last month have tested positive for drugs, making their arrest inevitable, police said on Saturday.
"We have received samples for 46 of the 92 people who attended the sundown party at a hotel in Juhu last month. 44 of the 46 males tested positive for the drugs," said Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik, but refused to divulge their names. The results of the other 46 people, including two IPL cricketers, Wayne Parnell and Rahul Sharma (both played for Pune Warriors India), and 38 women, have not been received yet, he added.
According to police, these 46 men were taken to the civic-run Cooper hospital after they were rounded up along with 46 others partying at Oakwood Premier Hotel on May 20. The rest were taken to J J Hospital and Bhabha Hospital.
The hospitals took urine and blood samples for alcohol presence testing and the same samples were also sent to Kalina Forensic Laboratory for drug tests. The results of 46 men were received on Saturday, police said.
All those who tested positive would face arrest, another police official said, adding that the procedure to arrest would start in a day or two. "There could be some foreigners and high-profile personalities among those who tested positive," he said.
Among the 44 who tested positive so far, 27 had consumed cannabis, one had MDMA (better known as ecstasy, a drug usually taken in pill form) while 16 had consumed MDMA as well as cannabis, according to Patnaik.
Giving details of alcohol consumption, the Police Commissioner said, "29 among these 46 persons had alcohol during the party and the invitations were sent through internet.
On the invitation, it was mentioned 'support the music and not the drugs'". Police had on May 20 raided the posh hotel and rounded up 92 people, including foreigners, following specific inputs about the presence of drugs at the party. They were let off after their urine and blood samples were taken.
"Of the 4,000 (music) tracks seized from the DJs at the party, 95 per cent of the tracks were of trance music," he added.
A rave is essentially an unofficial party held without permission, usually outdoors or in basements, and is known for the use of trance music, drugs and psychedelic lights. A day after the raid, police had also arrested Vishay Handa, the director of the hotel, under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The statements of all those present at the party were also recorded.
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