Pune bar drug case: 3 people including supplier held after video goes viral

Pune: Three persons, including a Nigerian national, have been arrested in connection with the alleged drug use in a bar on Fergusson Road in Pune recently, videos of which had gone viral, a police official said on Friday.

The police probe began after a video showed two persons, later identified as Nitin Thombre and Karan Mishra, allegedly with drugs inside the toilet of Liquid Leisure Lounge, popularly known as L3.

One of the three persons supplied the drug, possibly mephedrone, that was allegedly used in L3 by accused Thombre and Mishra, he said.

"The other two who have been held, including the Nigerian national, provided drugs to the third accused. We have recovered cocaine worth Rs 75,000 and mephedrone powder weighing 7 grams. The three were held under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and were produced in a court today," Zone I Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandip Singh Gill said.

The number of persons arrested by police in connection with the probe into the L3 video stands at 13, while the excise department has apprehended six persons for liquor stock and other violations.

The bar was sealed after its licence was suspended by the excise department, while civic authorities demolished its unauthorised parts and booked two owners under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act.