Mumbai concert drug overdose case: Mastermind arrested while fleeing city

MUMBAI/NAVI MUMBAI: The alleged mastermind in the suspected drug overdose case that left two MBA students dead was arrested from Poladpur on the Mumbai-Goa Highway late on Friday , while he was trying to flee to Goa.

Ayush Sahitya, 24, was produced before a magistrate court at Borivali on Saturday. He was remanded to police custody till Monday along with two other co-accused, construction businessman Anand Patel and college-goer Vineet Gerlani. Police said that they recovered five Ecstasy pills of 305 gms from Gerlani's home-- their first recovery of any drug in this case so far.

A 28-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman--- part of a group of 25 MBA students attending a music concert at an exhibition ground in Goregaon East on April 11--- popped Ecstasy pills and died a day later. A 25-year-old woman was hospitalised after she too popped the drug and took ill. Vanrai police arrested eight individuals in the case and were looking for Sahitya after they came across financial transactions and a large volume of phone calls between him and Gerlani. Police have claimed that Gerlani was supplying drugs to people and transferring the money to Sahitya. They added that Gerlani and Sahitya had entered the music concert illegally by bribing a bouncer at the venue.

During the probe, Vanrai police received information that Sahitya was fleeing to Goa in a car. They informed the Poladpur police who set up a nakabandi along with the local crime branch.

All vehicles heading towards Goa were being checked by police teams carrying a photo of Sahitya. Around 10.30 pm, the police stopped a car and checked the two occupants in it. They were about to let the car go when they noticed movement in the backseat. The car's windows had black films on them and the driver was asked to switch on the light.

The police then found a man on the backseat with several bags piled over him in a bid to hide. The man matched the photo of Sahitya that the cops were carrying and was taken into custody. The car was seized and the other two occupants were released.

Police have not ruled out more arrests. In their remand application, police have said that an agency had been hired for handling security at the music concert and its staff needs to be questioned.

On Saturday, lawyers for two of the accused that work for the exhibition ground, Sunny Jain and Balkrishna Kurup, made an application before court that their arrest was illegal as their families had not been informed of the grounds of arrest. The magistrate rejected their application and sent them to juidicial custody. Their lawyer will be moving for bail on Tuesday.



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