Pune bar drug video case: Police custody of 10 accused extended till July 3

A court here on Monday extended till July 3 the police custody of 10 persons arrested in connection with the Pune bar drug video case.

Santosh Kamthe, Vitthal Kamthe, Yogendra Girase, Ravi Maheshwari, Akshay Kamthe, Dinesh Mankar, Rohan Gaikwad, Manas Mallick, who are associated with Liquid Leisure Lounge (L3), and Nitin Thombre and Karan Mishra, who were allegedly seen in the viral video, were produced in a court where police sought extension of custody.

The prosecution, while seeking custody, told the court they want to probe the links of the accused with the alleged drug peddlers in the case and, therefore, need their further police custody.

One of the arrested persons, Abhishek Sonawane, had supplied drugs to Thombre and Mishra and police wanted to reach the main drug peddler, the prosecution told court.

Police said they arrested Abhishek Sonawane, Omkar Sakat and one Nigerian national for supplying drugs to Mishra and Thombre.

Later, Aryan Patil and Akshay Swami were held for allegedly supplying drugs to Abhishek Sonawane, police said.

The number of arrests in the case rose to 15 after Patil and Swami were held, a police official said.

The probe into the case began after Thombre and Mishra were seen in a viral video with drugs inside the toilet of L3 bar.

A case was registered against the establishment for operating beyond permissible time limit.

The excise department had filed a case for violation of liquor stock norms, suspended the license of the bar and sealed it.

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) demolished the unauthorised structures at the bar and booked two owners under MRTP Act.