SURAJ NANDREKAR

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ANJUNA: Was the tragic death of the two tourists at the Vagator rave parties, really at the parking lot of the nightclubs?

It surely doesn’t appear to be so, at least in one case. As Herald investigations prove there is more to the tale, because the naked eye of an eyewitness had seen a man collapse on the floor of the Hilltop club, who was then dragged to the parking lot. He was declared dead in hospital hours later when his friends finally took him. 

Two tourists, Abdul Nadim and Pravin Surendra, died following a suspected drug overdose on Sunday, the former having been to the Hill Top and the later to the Banyan Tree club.

Herald met a witness who was also partying at Hilltop nightclub, and his firsthand account differs from what is known so far.

The witness, also a tourist staying at a hotel in Siolim, who spoke to Herald on condition of anonymity, said the victim found at the parking venue of Hilltop had indeed collapsed in the club itself.

“I was with my friends at the club and between 1.00 am and 1.30 am, I don’t

 remember the exact time, but we saw a guy collapsing and the security guys or bouncers picking him and taking him outside,” said Siddharth Malhotra (name changed).  

He further disclosed, “We came out immediately and saw the security guys leave him outside. The guy was sought of breathless and when we asked they said ‘he’s just drunk’. They left him there alone.”

He added, “We left the club thereafter since it was too late. Next day when we woke up late at the hotel we came to know through TV channels that two guys were found dead due to drug overdose.”

He said that newspaper reports about the youth dying in parking lot confirmed their suspicion. “Had we known about this guy dying at least we would have taken him to the hospital as he was really in bad shape,” he said.

Moreover, Siddharth says this should not have happened as the youth’s life could have been saved if he was taken to hospital. “…but we were told he was heavily drunk. This is not a sort of treatment tourists should get at an international destination,” he lamented.

Asked whether drugs were freely available at the party, he said, “Don’t you guys know? Why do you want us to get killed? It’s there everywhere.” He refused to confirm or deny whether drugs were available at that party.

The death of two young tourists at separate rave parties has exposed the authorities’ laxity in cracking down on drug-laced and illegal parties in the coastal belt.

The suspected drug overdose deaths at Anjuna, over the weekend, indicate various violations by the organisers of the late night parties, majority of which allegedly have links with the drug trade.

As reported by Herald, three of the six parties held in North and South Anjuna did not have the mandatory sound permission despite which the organisers – unconcerned of any penal action – went ahead hosting the parties.

Sources at the North Collectorate said that night parties at Shiva Valley, U V Bar and Liliput reportedly did not have permission from the Deputy Collector whereas parties at Banyan Tree, Hilltop and Waters allegedly violated the sound pollution rules by continuing to play loud music after 10pm.

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