Panaji: The Crime Branch police busted a rave party, arrested 23 persons including three women foreign nationals and a former Bollywood actor and seized drugs worth over Rs 9 lakh following a raid conducted during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday at a private villa in Vagator.
As per the police, the raid was conducted based on source information. During the thorough search, drugs such as cocaine, MDMA, ecstasy tablets and charas were found in sizeable quantities. The drugs are worth over Rs 9 lakh, police said.
Police informed that FIRs have been registered for endangering public safety and also under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Further investigation is in progress, police said.
The raid was conducted under the supervision of Superintendent of Police, crime branch, Shobhit Saksena. The three teams of the crime branch that conducted the raid were led by police inspectors Rahul Parab and Narayan Chimulkar and lady police sub-inspectors Rima Naik and Sandhya Gupta.
Saksena said Director General of Police (DGP) Mukesh Kumar Meena had briefed all officers to keep a strict watch on any late night parties, as it is against public safety to organise such parties in these times of COVID-19. “Police were on the ground… and actively monitoring. As soon as we received information that there may be such a party, the crime branch teams swung into action. It was held in a private villa at Vagator,” said Saksena.
According to the police, it appears that the party was hosted by one person, who called others. Those who attended the party included three women foreign nationals, a former Bollywood actor Kapil Jhaverri, some persons from Mumbai and others, who are residents of Goa, police said.
“Goa police once again appeals to everyone to stay safe and follow all guidelines (government guidelines in view of COVID-19) and keep public safety and public health as a priority. There is zero tolerance for any sort of narcotic activity in Goa,” said Saksena.
It may be noted that earlier this month, a scuffle had broken out between two groups during a party held at a villa in Arpora. Anjuna police had booked the caretaker of the private villa for ‘letting out’ the villa for the purpose of holding the party. The police had also registered an FIR in connection with the assault incident that was linked to the party.