52 test positive in Khalapur rave bust

Test results show that the revellers had smoked cannabis; may face six months imprisonment

Testu00a0reports on the 60 out of the 298 present and caught doping at the June 27 trance party in Khalapur have been completed and 52 of them have been tested positive for drugs.

The state forensics science laboratory (SFSL) at Kalina completed the first batch of tests and submitted the report to the Khalapur police on August 3.

M V Garad, Director, SFSL said, "We tested urine and blood samples for confirmation of consumption of drugs. We have found traces of cannabis in those tested positive."

"The tests are conducted as per the in-house testing method developed by the SFSL, after undergoing training at a laboratory based in Singapore. Drug levels can be detected in biological materials like urine and blood," he added.

Garad further elaboratedu00a0 that the remaining results would be sent to the police by the end of the month.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (Khalapur) Namrata Patil, the officer instrumental behind the raid, confirmed that they had received the results, and were waiting for the rest.
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"We have received the first batch of reports and once we receive all the test reports, we will officially arrest all those who have been tested positive, irrespective of their social status, and produce them before the court."

She added that action would be initiated against them under Section 27 of the NDPS Act, along with various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Bombay Prohibition Act.
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If proved guilty, the maximum punishment for consumption of drugs is six months under the NDPS Act.

The Bust
On June 27, after receiving a tip-off, the Khalapur police with Mumbai's Anti-Narcotics Cell carried out a raid at Hotel Mount View, at a party in the Raigad district and caught 290 youngsters.
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Out of those caught at the rave party, 231 were boys while 59 were girls.

During the raid, cops recovered 1.9 kg ganja, 430-gram cocaine, 56.41-gram charas and Rs 3,08,600 cash.
Several B-town celebrities' relatives and people from the IT industry were arrested at the raid.

Anil Jadhav, an inspector attached with the anti-narcotics cell, was also arrested.