5 acquitted in Provogue drugs case

A special narcotics court on Monday acquitted five persons — Vishal Maghnani, CEO of Provogue, Allwyn Sequeira, manager, Joseph Sequeira, and two assistant police inspectors —  Sanjay Shinde and Shantilal Jadhav — in connection with a 2005 drugs smuggling case, due to lack of evidence.

The case dates back to January 26, 2005, when Sequeira was detained for allegedly carrying three vials of cocaine which were to be delivered to Maghnani in Chennai.

The two policemen were arrested in July 2005 for allegedly
replacing the cocaine powder with boric powder after accepting Rs2 lakh from Joseph Sequeira, brother of Allwyn.

“The complexion of the vial and powder changed from sticky to smooth in transit from Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory to Hyderabad Central Forensic Science Laboratory,” said defence advocate, Ayaz Khan who appeared for the Sequieras.

The police had initially accused Chaturvedi and the others of “profiting” through links with international drug smugglers.

Chaturvedi was arrested in August 2005 after the police seized 3gm cocaine from his residence. He was acquitted in November last year.