Top Yash Birla group executive detained for possessing drugs

To Be Produced Before Holiday Court Today

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 11 , 2014
Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday night detained 31-year-old Amit Pathak alias Anand Vardhan, president, corporate affairs, of the Yash Birla group of companies after they found around 4.5 gm of cocaine in his suite at a five-star hotel in the city.
    NCB officials were busy recording his statement till late Saturday evening, after which, sources said, he would be arrested. He will be booked under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and produced before a holiday court on Sunday.
    According to NCB officials, Income-Tax authorities carrying out a search in the suite as part of their probe into the financial dealings of Yash Birla’s companies stumbled upon a packet in Vardhan’s baggage containing “some white powder.” They immediately called in NCB officials, who confirmed it was cocaine.
    Vardhan was then detained along with two of his associates: a peon, Dharma Rathod, and a personal security officer (PSO), Dilip Palekar. All three were taken to the NCB office at Ballard Pier for investigation. The peon and PSO were still being questioned at the time of going to press, and sources said Vardhan’s lawyer had not been allowed to meet him.
    Sources said Vardhan had admitted to having bought cocaine from a dealer purely for personal consumption. The NCB is yet to locate the dealer.
    Vardhan, an IIT graduate, is from Meerut and earns a salary of Rs 80 lakh per annum, sources said. He is one of Yash Birla’s confidants, the sources added. An NCB official said statements of I-T officials too were being recorded as they were the complainants in the matter. “Prima facie, it seems to be a case of consumption,” the official said. NCB’s zonal director Rohit Katiyar said, “We are in the process of recording statements of various persons in the case and will let you know as soon we make progress in investigations.”
    I-T authorities initiated a probe into the dealings of Yash Birla’s companies after they allegedly found improper balance sheets.
CAUGHT IN DRUG BUST AT A FIVE-STAR
Who
    Anant Vardhan (31), president, corporate affairs, of the Yash Birla Group, though his visiting card says ‘group president.’ His real name is Amit Pathak
Where did drug bust happen?
    At a five-star hotel in the city, where he had his suite for the past two days
How much
    4.5 gm of cocaine found in his baggage
Cost of 5 gm
    25,000 to 35,000, depending on how ‘pure’ the cocaine is (In the illegal local market the rate per gm is close to 25,000, depending on availability) WHAT THE LAW SAYS
Small quantity of cocaine
2 gm
Commercial
quantity
100 gm
OFFENCE
    Production, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transport, import, export or use of drugs
HIS OPTIONS
    An accused who is caught can refuse to give a statement. He has the right to keep quiet and not answer without consulting his lawyer
PUNISHMENT
    Small quantity | RI of up to 6 months or a fine of up to 10,000 or both
    More than small but less than commercial quantity
RI of up to 10 yrs and a fine of up to 1L
    Commercial quantity
RI of 10-20 yrs and a fine of 1-2L THE SEARCH
    The Income-Tax department searched his room as part of a probe into the dealings of the group’s companies, which the dept has been carrying on for the past one month. The dept has seized documents from the group’s many establishments across India