When Operation Rave became Mission Save

When Operation Rave became Mission Save

48 hrs after police raided a 'rave', questions emerge on whether it was all a cover-up

Team DNA. Bangalore



It appears to be a rave with a close shave. For, there may be more to the 'rave' raid on Sunday than meets the eye. The raid was detoxed to protect some people, who had a narrow escape, say people familiar with the situation.
The police first said on Sunday that the party, at a farmhouse near Big Banyan tree in Puttaiahanapalya, was a rave. Soon thereafter, they claimed it wasn't a rave but an 'after hours' do, or a dance party with spirits.
Now, it emerges that the raid was downscaled. Sources say a senior bureaucrat called up the police to hush up the incident. Some party revellers were children of senior serving and former bureaucrats, the sources say.
Incidentally, as the media reached the spot in quick time, the 100 arrested were charged, but under milder sections of law by the police.
Although police officials have stated there were no drugs and, therefore, the party did not qualify as a 'rave', the sources say drugs were present at the venue, but not declared as 'found'.
Had drugs been declared as found, the charge would have entailed severe sections of the Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Instead, the 100 party revellers, who were arrested from the venue, were merely booked under the Excise Act for being in possession of a large quantity of liquor, besides section 294 of the Indian Penal Code, which pertains to obscene acts and songs.
The commuting of the charge happened just after the senior bureaucrat called up the police officials. The raid took place around 4.30am Sunday after residents of neighbouring properties complained to the police about the nuisance created due to the blaring music and screams of the revellers.
Meanwhile, all 100 arrested in the 'rave' have been granted conditional bail by a court in Magadi. They will be released on Tuesday as the release order is yet to reach officials of the jail where the accused have been lodged.