In a hush-hush operation that could have been scripted for the popular Netflix web crime series Narcos, the Anti-Narcotics Cell of the Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch swooped down on alleged drug dealer Bakul Chanderia today and arrested him for the reported possession of Cocaine and LSD worth Rs. 14.56 lakh. Bakul is said to be close to a number of famous Bollywood personalities and is suspected by the police of supplying many of them with drugs. The haul that was reportedly made at Bakul’s residence in 14th Road of Khar, is thought to be the supply meant for the coming New Year parties planned by some Bollywood celebs.
Bakul was earlier busted in 2012 at a rave party in Hotel Oakwood Premium, Juhu, where a number of lesser-known Bollywood and TV stars and some international cricketers in India to play the IPL also came into the Anti-Narcotics Cell’s net. According to police sources, he reportedly supplies drugs also to some of the city’s reputed pubs and nightclubs where his patrons hang out. He used to carry out his operations from a video parlour he owns in Khar. In today’s operation, the police seized 106 grams of Cocaine worth approximately Rs. 8.48 lakh and 90 packets of LSD whose value was pegged at a little over Rs. 7 lakh.
What is exciting the Anti-Narcotics Cell, PeepingMoon.com has learned, is the diary Bakul allegedly maintained in which details of all his transactions and the names of his celebrity clients are listed. That diary is now in the police’s hands and they are scrutinizing it closely. Bakul was said to be close to former Bollywood starlet Mamta Kulkarni and her alleged drug lord boyfriend Vicky Goswami who have been declared the main accused and absconders by the Thane Sessions Court in the sensational Rs. 2,000 crore Ephedrine drug haul case in April this year. He was said to operate between Nairobi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.
In the trade, certain drugs have reportedly been selling by the name ‘Bakul Chanderia’ in the western suburbs. The Azad Maidan unit of the Anti-Narcotics Cell which made the raid and seizure have taken Bakul into custody under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. He has been remanded to police custody and is under interrogation. Bakul’s arrest has sent shock waves in Bollywood because he was known to frequent film parties and allegedly claimed close connections with a number of big stars. Bakul is also suspected of having funded a major Bollywood release in July that tanked at the box-office.
