Provogue owner held in cocaine case

The police alleged that Chaturvedi had conspired with the other accused in the case to smuggle in cocaine. The policemen, who have been accused in the case, used to help him do that. The investigators claim to have prints of mobile messages exchanged between him and the arrested cocaine suppliers.

Today, a team of Mumbai Police, led by investigating officer Kengale, accompanied Chaturvedi to his residence, located in the plush Lokhandwala complex at Andheri in north-west Mumbai. They claim they recovered the cocaine vials from a bathroom.

Chaturvedi’s relatives, including his brother’s wife, Sheetal, contested the police claim, saying that the vials ‘‘had been planted’’ and the whole thing was an attempt by the investigators to victimize Chaturvedi.

‘‘Salil (Chaturvedi) has been arrested under the narcotics Act as we have found sufficient evidence which shows his involvement in the cocaine case,’’ said Additional Police Commissioner (west) Parambir Singh.

Chaturvedi, who was questioned by the police last month, followed by a second round last week, first came under the scanner after the former Provogue Lounge manager, Vishal Maghnani, named him in the case. ‘‘It (Chaturvedi’s arrest) was also based on the interrogation of Vishal Maghnani,’’ added Singh.

The police have been on the cocaine trail since January 2005 when Alwyn Sequira, a Provogue employee, was arrested for booking a courier for Chennai that allegedly contained cocaine vials.

Chaturvedi is well-known in Mumbai’s party and business circuits as the man behind the successful shirt-making company. He is the youngest of three bothers. It was his brother, Nikhil, who started a shirt-manufacturing export house called Acme Exports.

In 1997, Salil and he decided to launch a company, Provogue, with John Abraham as its face. Later, it was Fardeen Khan, who was incidentally booked on drug charges a few years ago. Business sources say they achieved a ‘trading house’ status quite early which means they crossed a respectable turnover soon. The company did well with the use of a polynosic fibre, a lightweight silky fabric. But the main business has always been exports.

Salil can often be seen at Mumbai’s ‘Page Three’ parties. His friends include filmmaker Ken Ghosh, his assistant director, Kooki Gulati, actresses Kim Sharma and Preeti Jhangiani, and model Tapur Chatterjee. In 2003, Salil launched the Provogue Lounge Bar at Phoenix Mills, an outlet that was a retail store by day and a popular lounge bar at night.