Vagamon (Idukki): Nine people were arrested and eight varieties of drugs seized as the police busted a rave party at the Cliff Inn resort at Vattappathal in Vagamon of Idukki district on Sunday night.

As it was not clear who all had used drugs or who procured these, only the party organisers have been arraigned as accused.

No drugs were seized from the attendees. The police said that the questioning was going on and blood tests would be held to ascertain who all used drugs.

A total of 59 people, including 25 women, took part in the party. Most of the attendees were professionals in various fields from across the state.

Doctors, engineers, management experts, and fashion designers form the bulk of the group. Most of the attendees were from Kozhikode and Malappuram regions.

Lured on social media

The organisers of the rave party reportedly planned to sell drugs to youths, after inviting them to the resort via social media platforms on the pretext of birthday celebrations.

Those who attended the party told the police that acquaintance over social media paved the way for the get-together.

A Telegram group was created for only those interested in taking part. The attendees also gave statements that they were not aware that drugs were used at the party.

The cyber cell and cyberdome are checking the mobile phones of those who turned up at the party.

Discrete action by police

The police got a tip-off about the get-together from the youths who were caught in Kochi the other day with drugs.

The Kochi police passed on the information to Idukki district police chief K Karuppasamy, who entrusted ASP Suresh Kumar to carry out the checks.

To prevent the details from getting leaked, cops from 10 stations outside the Kattappana sub-division were roped in for the team. Four DySPs were also tasked with supervising the moves.

The team of cops assembled at the Upputhara police station on Sunday evening. However, the cops were also not informed about the raid until the team led by the ASP reached the resort.

After the first team reached the resort at 8pm, cops at the stations in the Kattappana sub-division were instructed to come over. Dog squads, trained in detecting banned drugs, were also brought to the resort.

A team led by Idukki ASP H Suresh Kumar is probing the case.

CPI expels owner

The resort belongs to Shaji Kuttikad who is the local area secretary of CPI's Vagamon unit.

The resort owner, Shaji Kuttikad, has been expelled from the party, CPI district secretary K K Shivaraman announced as the bust came to light. The action was initiated as the move to let a rave party be organised at the resort was anti-social and against the Communist values.

Idukki Collector H Dineshan has already issued a stop memo for the resort for violating the COVID-19 norms and letting drugs to be used at the venue.

The arrested

The arrested are: Shaukat Hamsa, 36, of Ramanattukara in Kozhikode; Ajayan Ayyappas, 35, of Kommeri in Kozhikode; Salman, 38, of Feroke; Nishad, 36, of Thrissur; Mohammed Rashid, 31, of Kasaragod; Blisty Vishwas, 23, of Ernakulam; Ajmal Saheer, 30, of Thodupuzha in Idukki; K Mehar Sherif, 27, of Malappuram; and Aboobacker, 36, of Edappal in Malappuram.