Pune bar case: Two persons held for alleged drug use

Pune: The Pune police probing alleged use of drugs at a local bar have held two men which took the count of those arrested in the case to 16, an official said on Tuesday.

The duo, identified as Nitin Thombre and Karan Mishra, were seen with a drug-like substance in a video captured at the bar that went viral, he said. The video had prompted the police to launch the probe.

It was suspected that mephedrone was consumed at the party, the official added.

Thombre was held from Mumbai. The two were produced before a local court which remanded them in police custody till June 29, said Sandip Singh Gill, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1).

Pubs in the city came into focus after the video, allegedly from Liquid Leisure Lounge or L3 on Fergusson College Road in Pune city, showed some youths with drugs-like substance in its toilet.

According to the police, the bar remained open till 5 am on Sunday and liquor was served beyond the permissible time. Bars and pubs in Pune are allowed to remain open till 1.30 am.

The duo were arrested in the main case in which eight persons, including the bar owners, staff and the event manager, were arrested earlier for operating the bar beyond the permissible limit. Besides them, the excise department has arrested six waiters of L3 for allegedly flouting norms related to the serving of liquor and its stocking.

"Following further investigations and blood reports, sections related to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act will be added," DCP Gill said.

Four police personnel were suspended earlier after the L3 bar was found operating beyond the permissible time limit.

A senior police official claimed that Thombre and Mishra admitted that they were consuming drugs. They were possibly consuming mephedrone, he said.

Thombre is an architect and lives in Goregaon in Mumbai, while Mishra is a software engineer who lives in Pune city. They became friends through social media platforms, the official said.

The drug used in the party was allegedly brought by Thombre from Mumbai, but police were verifying this information further, he said.

Meanwhile, DCP Gill said police were also probing the role of another club in Hadapsar area. "Before conducting a party at L3, one of the accused, Akshay Kamthe, an event organiser, had organised a party at another club in Hadapsar area late Saturday night. After the party got over at 1 am on Sunday at the club, Kamthe allegedly brought some people who were partying there to L3 by charging entry fees," he said.

He added that police were probing if the staff or manager of that club were involved in sending the people to L3.