Two accused move Bombay high court for bail in fatal drug overdose case

Mumbai: Two employees of Nesco Ltd, arrested in a fatal drug overdose case at a music concert on the Goregaon grounds, have moved the Bombay high court vacation bench for bail. The entire security for the event was outsourced to a third party as police investigation has revealed, says their bail plea.

Balkrishna Kurup, vice-president of live events, and Sunny Jain, manager, petitioned the HC separately after the sessions court in Mumbai denied them bail on May 7. Their pleas say neither them nor Nesco has any role in the security arrangements and can’t be held responsible for the incident. Both are currently in the Thane prison. Both say they have absolutely no role in the case and cannot be held liable for any breach of duty of a third-party employee. All illegal substances are strictly prohibited as per the Nesco policy, says Kurup’s plea, adding he has been “made a scapegoat’’ with absolutely no reason to arrest him and that the grounds of arrest were not communicated in the notice of arrest to his relatives.

In April , a 28-year-old man and 24-year-old woman—part of a group of around 20 students from a prestigious management institute—took ill after popping Ecstasy pills (scientifically known as MDMA, a potent psychoactive and psychotropic drug) at a music concert held at Nesco grounds. The two died the next day while a third was hospitalised. The Vanrai police station in Goregaon, in the western suburb of Mumbai, arrested two of their fellow students for allegedly providing the drugs under various sections of BNS including the grave offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 105 of BNS and also invoked sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and the Maharashtra Prohibition Act. The trial court order had erred in considering that liquor was served at the venue, say the bail plea and added that requisite liquor permissions were in place.