Pune: Five more people were arrested on Wednesday in connection with a rave party held near this city over the weekend and a large quantity of prohibited drugs and cash were seized from them.
The five alleged drug peddlers, including two women, were arrested from their Pune homes on the basis of information given by the seven people already in police custody since Monday, superintendent of police Vishwas Nangre Patil said.
While three of the five accused — Ankush Babiya Singh, Anil Suresh Abhange and Deepak Gaikwad — are residents of Yervada, the two women — Zora Mustaq Sheikh and Ashrafi Fazal Mehboob Sheikh — are slum-dwellers from the Kondva Khurd area in city outskirts.
Singh has already spent 10 years in the Yervada jail after a conviction under the same Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act that he faces again. He apparently took to drug peddling again after his release in 2003.
Seven kilograms of cannabis leaves and four kilograms of Marijuana, besides Rs 3,50,000 in cash and five mobile phone handsets, were seized from the three held in Yervada.
The prohibited drugs, albeit in a smaller quantity, 10 china clay cigars and two mobile phones were found with the women.
Police would produce the accused before the Shivaji Nagar court of junior magistrate SB Mahale and would seek remand in its custody for further interrogation and investigation, local crime branch inspector Andalkar told IANS.
Dhruv Kaushal (22), a resident of Pune, has emerged as the main culprit who arranged the holi festival party at a secluded farmhouse 40 km from Pune. He is said to have told police that he has attended several such parties.
While the remand of the seven accused, arrested under a narcotics act, in police custody ends Friday, the police is probing whether the two Germans among them - Tin Luther Kun and Stephen Muller - are involved in an international drug racket.
Both Germans currently reside in Mumbai - the former in Colaba and the latter in Andheri.
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