Outside AGNEC CoLab at Dhan Mill compound, where the party took place on Saturday. (Express photo: Prem Nath Pandey)A raiding team from the Delhi government’s Excise department and Delhi Police arrested eight people, and claimed to have recovered morphine and hashish which was allegedly sold to guests, at what police are claiming was a rave party in South Delhi’s Dhan Mill compound in Chhattarpur Saturday night.
Police claimed the main organisers, Amit Mavi and Ali Chitle, are on the run. Police have arrested another organiser, Pulkit Rastogi, after they claimed to have found narcotic substances in his possession.
As per the FIR, the party was organised at AGNEC CoLab cafe in Pocket D at Dhan Mill. The compound houses designer clothing stores, a theatre and cafes.
On Sunday, people trying to get into the cafe left after finding a locked door, crates of soda bottles and boxes with melting ice. Inside the cafe, the floors were swept clean with a broom, while a life-sized painting of a pixelated Mona Lisa stared at a glass cubicle packed with tables and chairs. The cafe owners did not respond to calls and messages seeking a comment.
According to police, the party organisers charged Rs 2,000 for a single guest and Rs 3,000 for couples. Police found a large number of people under the age of 25. While their names were noted down, police decided not to invoke punitive sections against them.
According to police, the party organisers charged Rs 2,000 for a single guest and Rs 3,000 for couples. (Express photo: Prem Nath Pandey)In total, police said they recovered 156 bottles of foreign liquor, 12 packets of hashish and 21 morphine tablets. The raiding teams also recovered Rs 5.43 lakh, which they claimed was also reflected in cash entries in a diary maintaining a record of liquor and drug sales.
“Many guests did not know what was going on. There are some provisions in the Excise Act in giving liquor to those under the age of 25,” said Additional DCP (South) Parvinder Singh.
“Two other people are absconding and our teams are tracking them down. The Excise department had raided the location after they received inputs about the rave party. A case has been registered under the Excise Act and sections 20 and 21 of the NDPS Act at Mehrauli police station,” Singh said.
ACP Alok Kumar, who led the Excise team, said his source gave a tip-off that the organisers obtained a p-10 license under the name of Pulkit, and despite no provisions of hard liquor, he would get it from Haryana.
According to police, two decoy policemen, carrying two Rs 2,000 notes, were initially sent. They ordered some drinks and clicked photographs of the guests. The raiding team from Mehrauli police station entered the cafe after a green light by the policemen, who handed over their cash to Pulkit.
As police started confiscating the liquor, and the guests were questioned, some members of the team also found an SUV parked outside where around 75 bottles of foreign liquor was found.
