Toxicology reports confirm ‘ecstasy’ in deaths of two students at Mumbai’s NESCO concert

Police officers familiar with narcotics investigations said drug traffickers often conceal contraband within legitimate consignments to evade law enforcement. “If ecstasy pills are packed in small rubber balls and hidden inside paint containers, it is difficult to identify them during routine screening. Drug syndicates have also been known to conceal narcotics inside chocolate boxes, with packets wrapped in colours similar to actual chocolates.

During X-ray screening, such consignments can appear similar to genuine products, making them difficult to differentiate,” a senior officer said.

Policemen bring the arrested persons in the Goregaon drug overdose case out of Metropolitan Magistrate Court at Borivali West in Mumbai on 16 April 2026. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

In April, the Mumbai Crime Branch’s Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) seized 5,000 MDMA pills worth around Rs 6 crore and arrested a woman from Titwala. Officers found that a drug syndicate had allegedly sourced 25,000 ecstasy pills from a European country and smuggled them into India concealed within a garment consignment, which escaped detection during routine scanning before it was intercepted. The seizure was among the largest ecstasy pill hauls made by the Mumbai police.

The case relates to the deaths of Shreya Rai, 24, and Sheetal Salvi, 25, second-year MBA students at a South Mumbai management institute, who attended a techno music concert at NESCO on April 11 along with a group of friends. Both women complained of dizziness and discomfort while dancing at the event, attended by an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 people. They were taken to a trauma hospital around 12.30 am on April 12 and later shifted to Bombay Hospital after their condition deteriorated. Rai died later that day; Salvi succumbed nearly a week later.

A third student from the same institute, Bismat Singh Amarjit Singh Bhasin, 28, also attended the concert. He consumed alcohol at the event, later complained of uneasiness, and died during treatment at Lifeline Medicare Hospital.

“MDMA was detected in the samples. Considering the high-profile nature of the case, the analysis was expedited and the report submitted at the earliest,” an FSL source said. A senior police officer confirmed the reports had been received. “Doctors will now examine the findings and determine the final cause of death,” the officer said.

Soon after the incident, the Vanrai police registered a case of culpable homicide along with relevant provisions of the NDPS Act. Ten persons have been named, including a classmate of the deceased students, event organisers, a security guard and alleged drug peddlers.

Investigators identified Ayush Vickey Sahitya, 24, from the Kalyan-Ulhasnagar belt, as the alleged mastermind behind the supply of “Mercedes” ecstasy pills. Four arrested accused — Ayush Sahitya, Anand Patel, Shubh Agarwal and Vineet Garelani — allegedly supplied pills to students and gained illegal entry to the concert by bribing security guard Pradeep Gupta. Two suspects remain absconding.

Two accused, including an employee of the NESCO Exhibition Centre, were granted bail by the Bombay High Court on June 12. The remaining eight continue to be in judicial custody.