Architect, techie held for drug use at FC Road pub, cops probe supply chain

Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandeep Singh Gill said, “Thombre, an architect, was arrested from Mumbai and Mishra, an IT professional, who was arrested from Pune. They are the two people who can be seen in the video.”

On Monday, a day after the Liquid Leisure Lounge pub was found operating past the stipulated time limit, 14 people were arrested—eight by the Pune city police and six more by the excise department—on charges of alleged illegal operations including organising an illegal party which was attended by dozens of people.

Police had also collected samples from some spots in the pub to identify the drugs consumed on the premises. The pub was sealed by the State Excise Department on Sunday for violations of several norms related to serving liquor.

“Thombre and Mishra are the two seen in the visuals consuming a powdered substance which we believe were drugs. The visuals are from the washroom of the pub and the two are seen consuming the narcotic substances after placing them over the lid of the lavatory seat. The two have confessed to the act. We are now probing the source of the drugs they procured and its supply chain,” said an officer who is part of the probe.

The police said further, “The two confessed that the drug was a synthetic stimulant Mephedrone. We are ascertaining this aspect and investigating if others too consumed drugs at the pub that night. We have started identifying and questioning those who attended the party for which invites were sent on social media and the phone messaging groups that were formed for this purpose. We have also come to know that some who attended the party at Liquid Leisure Lounge were earlier at another party at Hadapsar pub. After the Hadapsar pub closed for the night, they were told about the party at Liquid Leisure Lounge and so they came here.

“The crackdown by the police and state Excise department was prompted after videos of alleged drug use at the pub and also that of the establishment operating way past time limit were circulated on social media. It later came to light the pub was open till 5 am on Sunday as against the time limit of 1.30 am. Four cops—a police inspector and an assistant inspector who were on the night round, and constables who were patrolling in Shivajinagar police jurisdiction —were suspended for dereliction of duties.

Mephedrone, also known as Meow Meow or While Magic is a synthetically manufactured stimulant of the amphetamine and cathinone category. Till early 2010s, the drug was not included in the list of contrabands under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. But after multiple seizures of large quantities of the drug and rising instances of its consumption as narcotic in large cities, prompted authorities to include it in the list in 2015.

Previous drug seizures

In February 2024, Pune City police’s Crime Branch had seized around 1,836 kg of mephedrone worth around Rs 3,672 crore in several raids at a chemical manufacturing factory in Daund taluka, two godowns in Pune’s Vishrantwadi, some shops in South Extension in New Delhi and some more places in Sangli district. The probe unearthed a sophisticated production line for the synthetic stimulant, being run from a chemical factory guised as a pharmaceutical unit at an industrial cluster in Kurkumbh in Daund. In addition to these drugs being sent to major cities across the country, large quantities were also smuggled to London in ready-to-eat food packets shipped by a courier agency in Delhi, a probe had revealed.

Late on Tuesday night the Pune police registered one more offence against the Liquid Leisure Lounge under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act for illegal construction and use of the space to run the business.