16 arrested in Kollegal

Kollegal: The Kollegal Rural Police busted a rave party being held at a farmhouse in Haravanapura (Lakshmipura) near Madhuvana  village on Friday night.

The party, organised as part of the birthday celebrations of one Zaheer Khan alias Khalu, a rowdy-sheeter in Bengaluru, was being held at a farmhouse belonging to contractor Fayaz Khan.

Police arrested 16 persons, including Zaheer Khan and recovered narcotic drugs besides seizing vehicles. One person is said to be absconding.

The arrested include the prime accused Zaheer Khan, Umair Khan, Sheikh Mohammed, Nisar Khan, Syed Yunus, Sadrullah, Illiyas Khan, Shapruddin, Pavan, Sadiq, Ajmal Baig, Mohammed Shakeel, Kumaraswamy, Naveen Raj  and others.

According to sources, people from Bengaluru and Kollegal were present at the time when the Police team raided the venue at about 9.45 pm on Friday.

Narcotic drug test

Earlier, on receiving the information, Inspector Shivamadaiah informed Dy.SP Dharmendra, following which a team was formed to carry out the raids. The Police team was accompanied by senior lab technician Babu Dorai and officials to conduct tests to confirm the consumption of narcotic drugs.

The Police took control of the party hall and searched for narcotic substances. However, they found no such substances at the party hall. Later, the sniffer dog was let out, and after going around the venue, it stopped by a black-coloured car.

When the Police examined the car, they found charas, ganja and other substances said to be worth Rs. 45,000. They also recovered ganja kept inside the petrol tank cover of a two-wheeler.

Abon Urine Test Drug Screen Cassette was conducted on 50-60 people present at the party, during which it was found that a few of them had consumed  narcotic substances.

The Police have recovered narcotic drugs worth Rs. 45,000 and vehicles worth Rs. 10.50 lakh. All the accused were produced before the Court yesterday and were remanded to  Judicial Custody.

Kollegal Circle Inspector Shivamadaiah, Yalandur Circle Inspector Subramanya, Hanur Circle Inspector Chikkaraja Shetty, Mamballi Police Sub-Inspector Karibasappa and Kollegal Town Police Sub-Inspector Varsha and staff raided the venue.

Rave parties moving towards rural areas

With Police keeping a hawk-eye on drug dealers and curbing rave parties in Bengaluru, people have now turned towards farmhouses located in villages to organise rave parties involving narcotics and other substances.

In the Kollegal case, the Police have confirmed that the prime accused, Zaheer alias Khalu, had organised the rave party as part of his birthday celebrations and the drugs and ganja seized from the venue were given to him by one Sameer of Bengaluru.