S African cricketer among 35 absconding accused

Twenty-two year old South African cricketer Wayne Parnell has been named as one of the absconding accused in the Juhu Rave party case of May last year. Parnell, who tested positive for consumption of psychotropic substances, is one of the 35 mentioned as absconding accused in the chargesheet filed last week.

Indian spinner Rahul Sharma, who also tested positive, has been charged for consuming drugs. Parnell and Sharma were present at the May 20, 2012 party at Juhu's Oakwood hotel and allegedly consumed cannabis, claims the charegsheet.

Police have chargsheeted 86 accused in the case, including Vishay Handa (31), owner of Oakwood hotel, for allegedly hosting a "rave party". The 1,213-page chargesheet contains the medical report of guests at the party. While 51 were arrested and later released on bail, 35 accused, including 19 foreigners, have been shown as absconding accused. Police say that they got the foreign nationals sign an undertaking but they slipped out of the country before the investigation was over.

While the guests who tested positive were booked under Section 27 of NDPS Act (illegal possession of small quantity for personal consumption of any narcotic drug), Handa has been charged under Section 25 of the Act (for allowing the premises to be used for commission of an offence) as well.

The chargesheet includes statements of around 21 witnesses, along with other evidence. Special NDPS judge IM Bohari on Monday took congnizance of the chargesheet. The accused have been summoned to court on March 25.

Juhu police had raided the hotel following a tip-off about a "rave party" arranged by Handa and recovered 110 grams of cocaine, 64 grams of charas and MDMA tablets. Police rounded up 92 patrons; 86 tested positive and others were let off.

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