23 held as cops bust drug-fuelled party in Goa

PANAJI: Goa police on Saturday night busted a drug-fuelled party at a villa in Arpora, arrested 23 persons including 6 foreigners, and seized drugs including cocaine, MDMA and ecstasy worth Rs 9 lakh. The raid comes even as reports abound that foreigners in Goa continue to organise parties through the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
"The party was hosted by Kapil Jhaverri, who claims he is a Bollywood actor, and he has been arrested," said crime branch SP Shobhit Saxena. "It was attended by mostly businessmen and employees of private sector companies." Police said the revellers were mostly between 25-40 years of age, and that none of them were students or government employees. Of the 23 arrested, three foreign women have been held in a narcotics case.
Later on Sunday evening, a local court sent Jhaverri and three others to four days in police custody.
Saxena said that the police received reliable information about a party being organised at a villa. Three crime branch teams were quickly constituted. “We conducted a raid on the villa and busted the party,” he said. On searching the premises, they found cocaine, MDMA, ecstasy tablets and charas.
Jhaverri organised the party by contacting “customers” on the phone, and the guestlist was limited to his close circuit, Saxena said. The crime branch filed an FIR against those arrested for endangering public safety and also under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
After it came to light recently that parties were being organised along the state’s coastal belt even during lockdown, Goa DGP Mukesh Kumar Meena said the police would crack down on such illegal parties. Saxena said that after his remark, the crime branch has stepped up intelligence gathering on the ground.
The increased incidents of parties comes even as the state grapples with hundreds of new Covid-19 cases everyday. A senior health official said that the surge in cases can directly be linked to increased “social activity” along the state’s coastal belt, famous for its party scene.
In Arpora itself, the party on Saturday night was the second within a fortnight; the first was a “farewell party” by a 22-year-old Russian woman which culminated in a violence. It was attended by several youth between 17 and 22, many of them children of prominent businesspersons in Goa. Health minister Vishwajit Rane too mentioned this party while cautioning people to follow strict protocols and keep themselves safe.
Earlier, sources said that some foreigners had organised a party in a stone quarry in Arambol. Later, there was another in the same village, where police seized some musical instruments. In April, attempts by foreigners to hold rave parties in Pernem’s jungles were foiled by alert locals.
Last month, Goa police arrested a Russian national for organising a party in Morjim. He was later released on bail. Also in July, police arrested a Russian national and hotel owner for hosting a in the hotel premises in Morjim. Parties have also been held at Ozrant.