Another cop held in Provogue case

An Assistant Police Inspector was arrested in Mumbai on Monday night on charges of destruction of evidence in the Provogue drugs case, police said on Tuesday.

Shantilal Jadhav, posted as an assistant to the Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration) earlier, had allegedly directed policemen at the Airport Police Station to replace cocaine vials reportedly seized from Provogue employee Alex Sequiera with boric acid, they said.

The police said Jadhav, who has also been charged with cheating, had allegedly taken bribe from the accused for the favour.

On July 2, API Sanjay Shinde of Airport Police Station was arrested in the case and booked under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (Prevention) Act. He was also charged with conspiracy, cheating and destruction of evidence.

Sequeira was arrested on January 26 after he had booked a packet containing cocaine vials for Chennai, police said.

Sequeira later told police that Vishal Meghnani, manager of the Phoenix Mill-based Provogue Lounge, was also allegedly involved in the case.

Police have also questioned Provogue owner Salil Chaturvedi in the drugs case. The police suspect that some bigwigs from the fashion and film industry are also involved in the case.