In an interesting turn of events in the elaborate drug raid at Gachibowli’s Radisson Blu, the police officials have found a link with the huge network of drug suppliers and peddlers operating out of Goa’s Colvale Jail. Cyberabad police have now booked cases against the hotel for allowing the premises to be used for commission of an offence.
As per the latest information shared by Madhapur DCP Vineeth G, two empty sachets which contained three grams of cocaine were obtained from the rooms of the star hotel where the raid was conducted during the intervening night of February 25 and 26 following a tip-off about a party involving drugs. “The drugs involved in the party came from Mirza Wahid Baig, who directly took it from Faisal, a Hyderabad-based point of contact for the drug trade operated from the Goan jail,” a senior official told The Hindu on the condition of anonymity.
Faisal will be taken into custody for questioning by the Cyberabad Police in connection to this case with assistance from Telangana State Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TSNAB), the official further informed. Senior officials that The Hindu spoke to emphasised that this could be a tip of the iceberg of the comprehensive drug network unearthed recently across Goa, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad. Investigations are underway to further unearth the drug seizures associated with this network across the State.
The party was organised by Syed Abbas Ali Jeffery at the command of Gajjala Vivekanand, son of BJP leader Gajjala Yoganand, and saw attendance of Tollywood director Krish Jagarlamudi, actress Lishi Ganesh and producer Kedar Selagamsetty, Nirbhay, Raghu Charan, Sandeep, Swetha, and Neil.
The police have reprimanded Vivekanand’s driver Praveen, Mirza Wahid Baig and Syed Abbas Ali Jeffery who were involved in peddling the drug while others were issued 41 CrPC notices.
According to the official, the preliminary questioning of all the party attendees has concluded. While Krish tested negative in the drug test on Saturday, Lishi and Sandeep only got it done on Sunday.
“The legality of this drug test is in question as it would anyway not result positive after several days of consuming the drug,” the official argued, adding that it was a well planned scenario by all the attendees to manipulate the test results by fleeing the spot on the intel about Vivekanand’s arrest. Interestingly, the 12-panel drug test used in this case has a limit of about 2-4 days to test a person positive of consuming cocaine.
The police have also booked a case against Radisson Blu under Section 25 of The Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985.
Challenges aplenty
Highlighting that there are “too many holes in the ship”, officials have pointed out a lack of state-of-the-art laboratories for hair follicle drug testing, which detects traces of drugs in a sample of hair and bone testing for detection for drug use. “The 12-panel test is not efficient for such cases when suspects become absconding. Some can plan escape based on the same,” the official said.
“There is a grey area in the judicial system where consumers are to be looked at as victims which does not allow reprimanding them. Several consumers are missing who could be potential suppliers in much larger cases,” another official pointed. While Vivekanand was found guilty of further supplying the drug to all attendees, he could not be reprimanded considering him a mere consumer.
Officials also called for strict action against the film industry representatives and hospitality industry players involved in such cases by cancellation of contracts and licences to operate.
Investigation is underway to ascertain the suppliers and other consumers involved in the case, police officials informed. Meanwhile, all attendees can be called for further questioning.
