MUMBAI: An MBA student, critical in an ICCU after a suspected overdose of the drug ecstasy (street name for MDMA) at a techno music concert Saturday night, told police she had the same drug at another event in the city last year. The 25-year-old and at least two other students had reportedly taken ecstasy pills at the ‘999999999 Warehouse Edition’ at an exhibition centre in Goregaon (East). The other two died in hospitals Sunday.Late Monday, police arrested a 24-year-old real estate developer, Anand Patel, taking the total arrests in the case to six. Police said Patel had supplied drugs to one of the students through an app based courier delivery service.The police team probing the death of two students — a 24-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man — due to a suspected overdose of ecstasy at a concert has found that they were part of a group of 25 students that had attended the event in Goregaon (East) on April 11. The group had purchased passes online for the concert.
Six people have been arrested in the case so far, including a real estate developer, Anand Patel, for allegedly supplying drugs to one of the students. Patel’s lawyers denied all charges and said he was arrested only because he was acquainted with the other accused.While producing Patel before a magistrate’s court on Tuesday, police said they need to investigate where he had procured the drugs from, who else had bought drugs from him, whether Patel had any associates, and whether he was involved in selling any other type of narcotics.A 25-year-old survivor, who is currently in ICCU, told the police that the group reached the concert at 9.30 pm. She popped a yellow pill with water that one of her classmates, Ronak, gave her. Around midnight, her 24-yearold female friend popped a similar pill. “We were dancing together and my friend seemed okay. I had taken the same pill during another event in Oct last year,” the survivor told the police, adding that she did not remember what happened thereafter at the music concert and directly woke up in hospital.At 2.30 am the next day, police received a call about two women, aged 24 and 25, feeling uneasy at the concert and being rushed to the Trauma Care Hospital. Both were subsequently moved to a private hospital where the 24-year-old died. Meanwhile, a 28year-old student, who had been drinking with friends at the music concert, also took ill and was rushed to Lifeline Hospital where he later died.On Monday, police arrested Ronak and another student, Pratik. Police also arrested show organisers, Vihaan Samal and Sunny Jain, besides Balkrishna Kurup, vice-president with the company in whose exhibition ground the show was held.
