Prima facie probe reveals that accused used social media to call customers to L3

The Pune police, while seeking custody of the eight arrested accused in the Liquid Leisure Lounge (L3) case, informed the court that prima facie the investigation reveals that the accused had used social media to call customers to the L3 bar located at Fergusson College (FC) Road for smoking and consuming drugs and alcohol.

The police are seeking details of the customers who were served drugs and alcohol at the bar as well as details of the transactions carried out by the accused. The five accused were produced before the court of additional chief judicial magistrate which remanded them to police custody till June 29.

The police further informed the court that the accused, Akshay Kamthe, had extended an invitation to the party via social media and that the police wanted to investigate as to which other platforms had been used by him to send out the invites to prospective customers. Pressing for custody of the accused, the police further told the court that they wanted to unravel the exact nature of the drug nexus between the customers and the accused.

Eight persons were arrested and four police personnel were suspended after L3 was found operating beyond permissible time limits in the city. The eight persons - identified as Santosh Kamthe, Vitthal Kamthe, Yogendra Girase, Ravi Maheshwari, Akshay Kamthe, Dinesh Mankar, Rohan Gaikwad and Manas Mallick - were arrested by the police.

The eight persons, including the owners and employees of L3, were arrested after it came to light that the establishment was operating beyond permissible time limits on Sunday. Those arrested have been booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act, Maharashtra Prohibition Act, and Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act.