22nd May, 2012
Two Indian Premier League cricket players were among nearly 100 people detained for drugs tests after police busted a party, reports said yesterday, in the latest controversy to hit the tournament.
Police said South African Wayne Parnell and Indian Rahul Sharma, both members of the Pune Warriors, were detained after police raided and found drugs at the bash at a Mumbai hotel on Sunday night, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI).
“All those who were detained last night during the rave party were allowed to go after their blood and urine samples were taken,” a police officer was quoted as saying by the PTI news agency.
A total of 96 people were detained at the rave, where cocaine, MDMA and cannabis were seized, Additional Commissioner Vishwas Nagre Patil told the agency earlier.
Police also said the director of the party venue, the Oakwood Premier hotel in the city’s west, had been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Sharma was quoted on the NDTV news website saying he was at the hotel for a different party. “I had just reached there but nobody was present,” he said.
The players’ detention is the latest in a string of controversies to hit the IPL, which draws to a conclusion next week.
Last week Australian Luke Pomersbach was accused of molesting a woman and beating up her fiancé. He denies the charges and was granted bail on Saturday.
A few days earlier, five Indian players signed to IPL teams were suspended after an undercover TV report alleged they were prepared to take money for spot-fixing, an illegal practice in which parts of the game are fixed.