Goregaon concert deaths: MDMA network, security lapses led to tragedy, says Mumbai Police chargesheet

The Vanrai police have stated in their charge sheet filed in the death case of two young concertgoers at a music festival in Goregaon East in April that the tragedy was caused by an organised MDMA drug network that allegedly flourished within the venue NESCO Exhibition Centre amid glaring security lapses and negligence by the event organisersThe investigation has led to the arrest of 15 accused while several others remain absconding including an alleged international MDMA supplier whose identity has been established by investigatorsAlleged international MDMA supplier Mahesh lsquoMarkrsquo Khemlani in black Tshirt File PicsBy Special ArrangementPolice have issued a lookout circular LOC against the overseas suspect Last week the Vanrai police filed a detailed charge sheet against 12 accused outlining the alleged conspiracy drug supply network forensic evidence and the circumstances that led to the deaths of the two victimsThe incident took place during the 999999999 Live NESCO Warehouse Techno Concert held between 930 pm on April 11 and 1230 am on April 12 According to the prosecution Bismad Singh Bhasin 28 and Shreya Rai 24 died after allegedly consuming ecstasy or MDMA Methylenedioxymethamphetamine pills along with alcohol while another attendee Sheetal Salvi survived but suffered serious health complicationsJiya Jacob who the police allege received proceeds from an MDMA trafficking network in her bank accountThe Forensic Science Laboratory FSL Kalina reportedly detected MDMA in the viscera of the deceased strengthening the prosecutionrsquos caseDrug sale WhatsApp groupThe prosecution further alleges that Pratik Pandey created a WhatsApp group of JBIMS students to coordinate the purchase of pills before the concert According to the investigators students allegedly transferred money into Pandeyrsquos bank account after which payments were routed through multiple accused including Anand Patel Shubh Agarwal Vineet Gerelani and Ayush Sahitya eventually leading to the procurement and distribution of the drugs Police claim the pills were delivered through a chain of intermediaries before reaching students attending the NESCO concertAccording to investigators the organisers allegedlygtgt Deployed fewer security personnel than requiredgtgt Kept Emergency Gate No 9 opengtgt Allowed suspected drug suppliers to enter without proper friskinggtgt Instructed security personnel to ignore suspicious activitygtgt Permitted drugs to be sold and consumed inside the venuePolice claimhellipAyush Sahitya allegedly sourced thousands of MDMA pills from suppliers and later distributed them through associates During the investigation police allegedly recovered 933 Ecstasy pills weighing about 435 grams classified as a commercial quantity under the NDPS ActVineet Gerelani was allegedly found with 15 Ecstasy pills during a house searchBank transactions worth several lakhs allegedly linked to drug sales have also been documented in the charge sheetInvestigators allege that money generated from the sale of Ecstasy pills was transferred through multiple bank accounts including those belonging to associates and relatives of the accusedStudentsrsquo distribution chainThe charge sheet alleges that Raunak Rahul Khandelwal a student of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies JBIMS knowingly procured MDMA pills through coaccused Pratik Pandey and allegedly distributed them among fellow students including the victimsInvestigators claim Raunak collected money from several college friends for purchasing both pills and concert tickets while additional payments were allegedly made in cashFSL examination of seized tablets reportedly confirmed they contained MDMAAccusations against organisersPolice allege that Vihan alias Akash Samal owner of Inspiring Tie Production and organiser of the concert along with Balakrishnan Kurup vicepresident events of NESCO and Sunny Vinod Jain senior manager at NESCO knowingly failed to prevent drug trafficking despite allegedly being aware that narcotics were likely to be brought into the venueOther alleged violationsThe charge sheet further alleges that the organisers obtained police permission by stating that only 350 to 400 people would attend the event on a rotational basis between 7 pm and 10 pmHowever investigators claim that the organisers allegedly sold tickets to around 4286 attendees continued the concert until 1230 am and violated the conditions of the permissionPolice have also alleged that liquor was sold inside the venue and that persons below the legally permissible age were allowed to consume itMultiple charges invokedThe accused have been chargesheeted under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS Act and the Maharashtra Prohibition Act The prosecution alleges offences relating to culpable acts leading to death criminal conspiracy drug trafficking illegal possession and distribution of narcotic substances and violations of licensing and event permission conditionsForensic filesThe forensic investigation into the tragedy has revealed that both deceased had consumed MDMA before their deaths while the narcotic pills recovered from two accused also tested positive for the same banned substance Ecstasy pills seized from Greelani and Sahitya were chemically analysed and confirmed to contain MDMA strengthening the prosecutionrsquos allegation that the banned party drug was being circulated at the concertpopcorn numberApril 11 descDay concert was held classDefault