Top exec, 2 staffers held for possessing cocaine

Pathak’s counsel Pervez Memon said the Income Tax (I-T) Department had attempted to frame his client and his confession had been retracted in court. “We have accessed CCTV footage from the hotel, which shows that the I-T department had conducted the raid on January 7 and found the drugs. They detained my client for three days and said they would inform the NCB if he did not confess against Yash Birla. My client refused and the I-T tipped off the NCB,” he said.

“The NCB has charged my client with possession though the cocaine was not found on his person,” Memon said.

According to NCB’s remand application, the cocaine was found in Rathod’s possession. The samples were sent to the Kalina Forensic Sciences Laboratory for testing.

Sources in the NCB said Pathak, a resident of the Nepean Sea Road, Rathod, and Palekar (31), were at the hotel for a business meeting on Friday, when the I-T Department came knocking. The raid was part of the larger investigation into the group’s finances.

The NCB said Pathak confessed that he had given the cocaine to Rathod, who in turn, gave it to Palekar.

“We have begun investigations. The samples will first be tested for purity, only then can we estimate its worth,” said NCB Zonal Director Rohit Kathiyar. Pathak, he said, has been co-operating with the investigation.

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