In the early hours of Saturday, a Police team from Anaimalai detained as many as 165 youngsters for using drugs at a rave party hosted at Agri Nest, a resort near Sethumadai near Pollachi in Coimbatore. The police confiscated ganja, MDMA, cocaine, hashish and banned sedative tablets from the venue. Some of the seized items include 30 gms of ganja, 1 gram of hashish oil, 7 grams of ganja saras and 13.5 grams of MDMA tablets in addition to liquor.
It was also found that the private resort, located in the midst of a coconut farm, was functioning without permission following which the resort owner, 45-year-old Jai Ganesh and three others were arrested. Revenue Department officials later sealed the property.
The arrested group was made up of students from Coimbatore, most of whom hailed from Kerala. Reports suggested that the youth arrested also included IT professionals from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
The party began on Friday night and proceeded into the wee hours of Saturday. The police also informed that initial investigations revealed that the party had been convened over social media and was pitched as a 24-hour weekend celebration beginning 6pm on Friday.
The incident came to light after a quarrel between two groups on the dance floor around 2 am on Saturday following which the locals alerted rural SP Sujith Kumar.
An FIR has been filed under sections 8(C) (Illegal possession), 20 (b)(ii)(A) (Punishment for contravention in relation to cannabis plant and cannabis), 22(a) (Punishment for contravention in relation to psychotropic substances), 25 (Punishment for allowing premises, etc., to be used for commission of an offence), 27(a) (Punishment for consumption of any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance) of NDPS Act 1985 against resort owner and 15 others. The group has been arrested and remanded.
The police have also arrested 24-year-old Naveen Venkatesh, an IT professional for possession and selling of IMFL Liquor along with 97 others for unlawful gathering and public nuisance. An FIR was filed under sections 143, 4(1)(a), 4(1)(k) of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition (TNP) Act and sections 290 (Punishment for public nuisance) of the IPC. This group was later let out on bail.