Pune: Seven of the 280 people arrested during a pre-dawn raid on a rave party on the outskirts of Pune by the Pune rural police were sent to police custody until March 9.

The raid was conducted by the Pune rural police on Sunday morning. Those sent to police custody are Stefan Erwin Muller, a German national who was a DJ and reportedly played `trance music'; two alleged drug peddlers from Pune and organisers of the event, Dhruv Pawan Kaushal (22) and Paramjit Singh Brar; Ramdas Hagavane, Sharad Shankar, and Sivendu Gupta (from Mumbai), and Till Ku, a German national who gave his Indian address as Maria Lodge, Mumbai. All have been booked under Section 27 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985 and Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code.

The remaining 273 people, including 29 women, who were remanded to judicial custody earlier on Monday by Mrs. S. B. Mahale, a Judicial Magistrate, First Class, were given bail by the sessions court later in the evening. The earlier denial of bail was more a technical matter (it was outside the powers of the JMFC) than a reflection on the merits of the case. However, the arrested who were taken to the Yerawada jail in the evening will have to spend a night in prison before being released on Tuesday. The police are on the lookout for Shaina, a woman of Irish origin, who was supposed to supply 3000 `California drops.' A California drop is acid that is put on a stamp, which is then chewed; the cost of each drop is put between Rs. 350 and 500.

According to Vishwas Nangre-Patil, Rural Police Superintendent, the woman, who has cases of drug peddling against her in Ireland, failed to turn up as she probably got wind of the operation.

The sprawling, normally peaceful headquarters of the Pune rural police at Pashan was milling with people on Monday morning. Well-heeled parents wrung their hands in shock and despair, or hugged their wards, assuring them things would soon be `all right.' Lawyers handed out advice and the police put on their best `it's all in a day's work' attitude. Those remanded to judicial custody - 273 youngsters between ages 22 and 30 - were huddled up, the men in the Venutai Chavan Sabhagriha, the 29 women housed in better premises 100 yards away.

The scene inside the fan-less Chavan hall was chaotic as the arrested - outstation students and working men, a majority from the IT sector - glued on to their cell phones, tried to touch base with well-wishers, making anxious enquiries about what was in store for them. When told that their bail plea had been turned down by the judicial magistrate, some burst into tears, admitting that they had not told their parents about their whereabouts. Several of the young men said they had eaten little besides wada pav and tea over the last 24 hours and the strain was showing on their faces. Three African nationals were sprawled on the floor, fast asleep. The young women, from students to airhostesses to naval officers' daughters and eight foreign nationals, appeared to be in better shape.

Housed in a stone cottage, with fans and toilet facilities, some of them were reading newspapers, or were engaged in conversation with parents and guardians through the wire-meshed windows.

All those sent to judicial custody were transported to Yerawada jail by late afternoon.

Blood tests hold the key

The reports of the blood tests will determine whether those in judicial custody will face charges or be let off with a warning.

Sunday's raid, the first of its kind in terms of numbers apprehended and modus operandi, followed a tip off by the Economic Offences Wing of the city police. Around 2 a.m., a team of 100 policemen in plain clothes led by Mr. Nangre-Patil swooped down on the party, which was being held on a private farm at Donje, at the foot of historic Sinhagad fort. The farm, located 22 km from Pune, belonged to one Ramdas Hagavane, who had rented out the place because of the `good money' he was offered. In the hours that followed, the revellers were rounded up, bundled into police vans, and taken to the rural police headquarters in Pashan. Later, they were dispatched to various government hospitals where blood samples were taken to ascertain consumption of drugs.

It will be at least three days before the reports of these tests are available, police sources said.

Among the items recovered at the party spot were 2.5 kg of marijuana (ganja), 100 grams of hashish (charas), seven bottles of phenylfine hydrochloride, 15 boxes of beer, 17 cheelams, cigarettes and condoms, all valued around Rs. 5 lakh. The police also seized a Dolby Music System, 45 four wheelers, and 29 two-wheelers.

The invitations for the Holi-turned-horror-party were sent via SMS, e-mails, messages on Orkut and a website www.isratrance.com which from February 27 was promoting the rave party.

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