Provogue owner freed of drug rap

Chaturvedi was arrested in August 2005 from his bungalow in Lokhandwala after the police allegedly found three vials of drugs in his apartment toilet. The police had also alleged that he was making profits through links with international drug smugglers. The forensic report had also shown a presence of 75 per cent cocaine in the sample seized from Chaturvedi’s apartment.

The police alleged that he had regularly purchased cocaine from three Tanzanians who doped outside his lounge — Provogue in Phoenix Mills at Lower Parel in Mumbai. But surprisingly,the initial chargesheet filed against him and seven others did not implicate Chaturvedi for his involvement in the drug racket. It said Chaturvedi was arrested only for possession of three grams of cocaine.

The case dates back to August 25,2005,when the police arrested first accused Allwyn Sequeira,a Provogue staffer,who allegedly had cocaine in his possession. The police said the contraband was supposed to be parcelled to Chennai. It led to the arrest of another Provogue staffer and second accused Vishal Maghnani,whose address was mentioned on the parcel.

Two others — Sanjay Shinde and Shantilal Jadhav — were arrested later and it was the duo who coughed up Chaturvedi’s name. Chaturvedi had maintained throughout the case that he was innocent and had no role in the crime. Three Tanzanian nationals, Thomas Odombo,Saiko Sayed and David,were also arrested later.

Chaturvedi’s case was separated from others after he moved the Bombay High Court in February last year,seeking separation of his case from the others on grounds that he had nothing to do with the other accused and the police had shown separate seizures and evidence in his case. However,when the trial of Chaturvedi’s case began in the Sessions Court,advocate Rizwan Merchant argued that a basic search was not conducted on the constable who had seized the drugs from Chaturvedi’s residence. The court also accepted Rizwan’s contention of contradictions in testimonies of witnesses.