THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The recent raid by the, excise enforcement and anti-narcotic special squads on an island resort in Poovar backwaters in Thiruvananthapuram resulted in the arrest of 19 persons including two women for organising and participating in a drug-fuelled rave party.
The incident, though it pointed to the increase in usage of synthetic drugs among youngsters in the capital city, has also led to a backlash on professional DJ artists across the city and beyond in organising New Year and Christmas events in the coming days. The professional DJ artists who have been getting back on foot after the pandemic hit say the incident has shattered their hopes as for some their pre-booked DJ events in coming days have got cancelled.
The pandemic had left most of the DJs jobless forcing them even to look for alternative jobs -- from being cooks to sales executives. As the city was getting back to normal with the opening of recreation centres and exceptions in gatherings, these professionals found hope for dancing away their pandemic blues through more DJ events across the state. Almost every young and experienced DJ artists had kept hope in getting back their source of livelihood through upcoming college festivals, Christmas and New Year celebrations. But the illegal rave party organised by a few drug peddlers has shattered their dreams once again, says DJ Aun, aka Arun S, whohas 15 years of experience in the field.
“Thiruvananthapuram, being a very sensitive city, even one such incident is enough to target other innocents. The culture, reputation, credibility and honesty that we professional DJs have created here in the past 15 to 10 years get affected when such cases happen out of the blue. Now, I fear that many have already tagged DJ parties as space to avail and distribute drugs. Our DJ events are ethical and I do remember how many women used to give their bags and purses to me to keep while dancing on the DJ floors during my events. It happened due to the trust that I gave to my clients. I even doubt that not only public celebrations but DJs for wedding parties and corporate events will also be affected as, from now, people are getting away from the thought of DJ,” says Arun.
But according to DJ Ajin who has been active in the field for the past 10 years, awareness about DJ parties and rave parties has to be created among the public. Ajin, who specialises in wedding and college fests DJ events, says awareness about DJ parties will stop tagging it with drugs.
“The rave parties are organised secretly by some groups in isolated places only with a motto of drug usage. But DJ events which are announced through public social media platforms and ads are trustworthy as there is nothing illegal in them. Wedding DJs are around one hour only and being a family event, who will dare to supply drugs? This is the simple logic to think. The same goes with college fests as they are held under the watchful eyes of college authorities with strict surveillance. Last year, due to the pandemic, I lost a handful of New Year DJ events and wonder if the cancellation will happen this time after the Poovar incident.”
The concern over safety even had made the cancellation of many DJ parties organised by DJs and event management companies across the city. According to a source from Connections Entertainment event management company based in the capital city, their recent DJ party which was to be held on December 11 at a popular leisure beach hotel in Kovalam was cancelled.
“One of the international DJs, Ivan, was to conduct the event but the Poovar incident led to its cancellation. Even though the programme features a reputed DJ like Ivan who is a gentleman and nonalcoholic, the recent rave party with drugs has degraded reputed events like ours which only accommodate a mature crowd. The financial loss incurred for one such event is high -- from arranging stay of guests, venue booking fees, artist payment and his travel expenses, etc,” says the source.
Sharing his concerns over such unethical presence of drugs in DJ events, Arun says the blame will be on the event management company too which organises the event even if one guest carries drugs without the organisers’ notice. “Apart from rave parties, headache doubles if any one of the guests possesses drugs without our notice even though we adhere to safety assessment. Rather than that individual, the event management company will be made accountable as if they supplied it to the guests”.
The woes are not limited to DJ artists as the DJ lovers in the city also expessed their concerns about the banning of parties in the state. Sauraj Pushpangathan, a techie and native of Alappuzha, explained how the DJs have helped them keep away their work pressure. He says even if ours is described as a highly literate state, the mindset of people is still “pathetic”.
“If any youngster or a group sets out for bike trips, then they are tagged as going for liquor consumption and ganja. If it is a company team-out party, even then it is labelled as some immoral activity where drugs and LSD are consumed. After the pandemic when restrictions were relaxed on public gatherings and leisure, it was a big relief for techies like us as we could enjoy our weekends with friends again. DJ events are tagged in a negative way by our orthodox society. Apart from juices or cocktails, drugs and liquor aren’t served in these DJ events which are part of our work life in other metropolitan cities,” adds Sauraj.
Pointing out the incidents of drug usage at rave parties during the festive seasons, G Sudhiesh Kumar, patron of Kerala Hotel and Restaurants Association, says it dampens the celebration scene in the state.
“In this festive season, cases like this will make the non-domestic tourists have second thoughts before coming here to relish their vacay. At a time when the state reports the highest Covid cases in the country, drug cases like this will ruin the tourism sector gravely.”
60 people including 25 women were arrested from a narcotics-fuelled rave party in Vagamon last December in a joint operation by Narcotics Cell, police. According to cops After getting the tip-off, the SP had arranged a 100-member squad of police officers. Banned drugs such as LSD, heroin, and marijuana were seized from the venue.
Accused not arrested for first time
According to excise sources, the trio arrested by the excise special enforcement squad for holding a rave party in a resort near Poovar on Sunday had conducted a similar event in the same resort earlier this year.
They said the main organiser, Akshay Mohan, a 26-year-old DJ from Aryanadu, was the kingpin of the racket. He uses his contacts to source synthetic drugs from Bengaluru and Goa. Peter Shan, 35, of Kannanthura and Ashir, 31, of Kazhakuttom were the other organisers.
The arrest of the trio has been recorded and they were remanded to judicial custody. As many as 14 people who had turned up for the event, were released on station bail as they were not found in possession of the drugs. Enforcement squad Circle Inspector T Anikumar said their statements were recorded before being released on bail. “We are collecting video footage and checking their bank transaction details. If they are found to have any connection with the drug racket, we will take further actions against them,” said Anikumar.
The excise sources said the rave party was held under the cover of a fashion show and music night. Though some genuine fashion show aficionados and music lovers had attended the programme, drug users and peddlers also turned up. Peter, who is a suspected drug peddler, had purchased the ticket to attend the programme. Ashir, who had taken up the contract for arranging food and beverages, also had stocked up drugs to sell to his contacts. MDMA, LSD and hashish oil were allegedly seized from the trio.
The sources said Akshay was arrested in 2018 for possession of 65 LSD stamps. A source in Kazhakuttom told TNIE that Akshay was a regular visitor to a local tattoo shop where he picked up his contacts. “He used to arrive in luxury cars and was accompanied by women from affluent backgrounds most of the time. They used to drop and pick him up from the shop,” a source said.
The excise department, meanwhile, has started a special drive against alcohol and drug sale. The drive kick-started on Saturday and will continue till January 3. Though special drives are often held in December owing to the Christmas and the New Year celebrations, this time the focus is more on curbing the flow of drugs, an excise official said, In each Taluk, a team led by an inspector is working round-the-clock to mount surprise raids.