Mumbai: Police on Friday arrested a 21-year-old collegian based out of Kalyan in connection with the suspected drug overdose case where two MBA students lost their lives and a third is critical. Shubh Agarwal is the eighth person to be arrested in this case and was remanded to police custody till Monday by a magistrate court at Borivli.Police said Agarwal had delivered Ecstasy pills to the residence of one of the co-accused, Pratik Pandey. By questioning Agarwal, police hope to track down the whereabouts of the mastermind, who is currently on the run.A 28-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman—part of a group of 19 MBA students from a management institute —took ill after popping the pills at a music concert in Goregaon East on April 11. The duo died at different hospitals the next day while a third student—a 25-year-old woman— remains hospitalised. Police arrested two of their fellow students—Pandey and Ronak Khandelwal—for allegedly providing the drugs. Pandey told investigators that a construction businessman from Kalyan, Anand Patel, supplied him with 20 pills. Police arrested Patel after learning that the pills were sent through an online courier app. Further investigations showed that some of the pills were also sent by Patel to Pandey through Agarwal. These were packed in boxes and delivered to Pandey’s home in Charni Road by Agarwal.Investigators said Agarwal, who studies at a management college in Andheri, was also present at the music concert, along with the mastermind. The police’s remand application submitted before court said they need to inquire whether Agarwal picked up narcotics from anyone else and delivered them in a similar manner and whether there were any financial transactions between him and the rest of the accused persons.“From inquiries made with Pandey, we have learnt that drugs were bought a couple of times in the past three to four months,” said a senior police official. Police are investigating whether the drugs were sourced from around Kalyan as Patel, Agarwal as well as Pandey’s family are based out of Kalyan. Patel and Agarwal’s lawyers, Azad Gupta and Surendra Landge, said the duo had been arrested only because of their acquaintance with Pandey.
