Noose tightens on Rahul

New Delhi, Jun 5 (UNI) On day four of the Rahul Mahajan-Bibek Moitra saga, Rahul Mahajan walked out of Apollo Hospital's Intensive Care Unit as police moved in to grill him about his mysterious illness and the sordid Thursday night party at his late father's official bungalow.

Charges that drugs were used at the party -- as claimed by witnesses and supported by the report of a private laboratory -- were further reinforced today as the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory said the white powdery substance found from the two was heroin.

Even as a police team questioned Rahul in the private ward of the hospital, three Nigerian nationals, arrested for allegedly supplying drugs to the party, were remanded to ten days' police custody.

Asked if police would also make Rahul an accused in the case, registered under the NDPS Act, Investigating Officer S Singh told the court of Metropolitan Magistrate A K Chaturvedi that it was ''possible''.

A police team questioned Rahul for nearly two hours in a private ward of the hospital. Police, which had taken away medical records of the case on Sunday, also questioned Apollo Director Anupam Sibal, hospital spokesman Karan Thakur said.

''We are cooperating with the police investigations,'' he said.

Police had handed over a pouch containing a white powdery substance found from the crime scene to the CFSL on Friday, soon after Moitra died and Rahul was admitted to hospital in a serious condition.

The CFSL was, however, yet to give its report on the fluids found in their stomach that day. Rahul had tested negative for drugs and showed low level of alcohol in urine and blood tests carried out at Apollo Hospital. A toxic screen done at Dr Lal's Path Labs, however, showed cocaine, opiate, cannabinoid and barbiturate traces in his urine sample.

Police was also questioning four young men present alongwith them on Thursday night. A city court sent one of them, Sahil Zaroo, to police custody till June 12.

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