A ‘Friendship Day' party went haywire here late on Sunday night when the Pune Rural Police busted the party and detained more than 400 students. The youngsters were consuming liquor without prior permission, Police Inspector Suhas Garud said.
“We got complaints that some people were partying loudly around 11 p.m. on Sunday night. We reached at the spot, and saw that the girls and boys were dancing and some had consumed alcohol. We seized alcohol worth Rs.17,000,” Mr. Garud said.
Police officers said the students not only did not have permission for organising a big party that involved consuming alcohol, they also violated the city's 10.30 p.m. deadline.
The party was organised by the students at the Ashtekar Farmhouse in Theur, which is about 30 km from the city, on the Pune- Solapur highway.
According to sources, there was an entry fee of Rs.350 for the party and the organisers had arranged for buses to take the students back to the college. But the turnout was larger than expected.
Medical test
The detained students were subjected to a medical test to determine alcohol level in blood under provisions of the Bombay Prohibition Act, he added. After detaining the students, the police invited a judge to conduct a hearing at the farmhouse. After a few hours, the girls were released with a warning.
After the tests, 88 students were still kept in police custody, and were let off on production of bail from the court later in the day.
The director of the institute is reported to have said that the students had sought permission of the hostel authorities for a “late out” but had failed to return within the time limit prescribed by the institute authorities. An internal enquiry would be set up to probe the incident, she added.
