The Hindu : National : 15 held for drug peddling; 109 test positive

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15 held for drug peddling; 109 test positive

Rahi Gaikwad

Mumbai: The Mumbai police have arrested 15 persons on a charge of drug peddling. The arrests were made more than a month after the police raided a rave here.

During the raid on Bombay-72 Degree East restobar on the night of October 2, the police arrested 231 people.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone 1 Vishwas Nangre Patil told journalists on Wednesday that the urine and blood samples of 231 boys and girls were sent for chemical analysis. “We have received the reports of 119 persons. Of them, 109 have tested positive,” Mr. Patil said, adding that they would be arrested for consuming drugs. The punishment for the offence of consumption alone is not severe. “Under Section 64(A) of the NDPS 64A, immunity from prosecution is available to those volunteering for treatment. We see them as victims,” he said.

Mr. Patil said 87 of the 231 were students and 80 others belonged to professions such as fashion designing, merchant navy, disk jockeying and hotel management.

Drug peddling, on the other hand, was a serious offence invoking serious punishment.

The police seized a huge cache of drugs worth lakhs of rupees. Of the 15 peddlers, Rahul Ravindra Karmarkar, 24, and Ben Hyum She Shimon, 27, who is an Israeli, are already in police custody for earlier peddling activities.

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