300 Pune rave party revellers held;ATS officer under scanner

Wagholi (

), Sept 3: Pune seems to be drawing a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons these days and is earning its name as the hub of rave parties in the country. The latest news on such infamous parties surfaced when the Pune rural police

a weekend party at the Maya Restaurant-cum-Lounge at Wagholi early hours on Sunday. The joint located in the outskirts of the city is owned by a Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officer and his wife and has been leased out.

The police arrested more than 300 people in the midnight crackdown that included 114 women as well. Among them are students, IT professionals and others. The organisers of the party have also been arrested. According to the police, the raids were carried out at the Pune Nagar Road restaurant-cum-lounge for allegedly playing loud music and liquor being served without proper permit.

Additional superintendent of police Ravindrasinh Pardeshi has been quoted as saying, "As per primary information, the restaurant is owned by police officer Rajnish Nirmal and his wife. They have leased out the property. We are yet to get the ownership and lease documents. Action will be initiated against the owner, too. We seized liquor worth Rs 9.8 lakh illegally stored in the bar, besides cash."

He added, "The organisers had a one-day permit from the excise department for serving liquor between 7 pm and 11 pm. The party was on in full swing at 1 am when we raided it. We called a medical team from the Sassoon Hospital to the site for the tests."

The organisers of the party and owners of the lounge have been identified as Harmit Sahania and Abdul Zaheer Abbas Jaleel. The two managers, Saud Anwari and Shreyas Tanna have also been detained.

The ATS officer commented, "We have leased the property out for five years. The terms of the agreement clearly mention that the other party would abide by norms."

The police stated that a BMW car with the sticker saying 'Municipal corporation member' was seen outside the party premises with chances of senior police officers and their kin also attending the busted party. The names are likely to be revealed when the police puts out the list of those who attended the party.

A lawyer representing the organisers said, "My clients had a one-day permit. The lounge was closing down at 11 pm. By 11.45 pm, cops arrived and raided the party."

OneIndia News