Farmhouse drug bust: AP TDP MP tests positive for methamphetamine

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh’s sitting TDP MP Putta Mahesh Kumar on Sunday tested positive for the banned substance methamphetamine (meth) in a blood test, with investigators saying he was trying to dodge a drug screen at a farmhouse party raided by Hyderabad police the previous night, reports Srinath Udali. The Eluru MP’s test results bring to six out of 11 the number of high-profile guests who failed drug tests at a Moinabad hotel owned by BRS’s former Tandur MLA pilot Rohith Reddy. Delhi businessman Namith Sharma, who was found with trace amounts of cocaine during a raid on Saturday, has also been charged with attempted murder and assault.MP faked drug test using water sample during farmhouse raidHe was booked under sections 109 and 131 of the BNS for firing at the police with a .32 revolver belonging to Rohith’s brother Rithesh Reddy Pajugula. Apart from Rohith and MP Mahesh Kumar, those accused of drug abuse include Risesh, Namis, businessman Thiruvedulla Arjun Reddy and advocate Kaushik Ravi. Moinabad DCP Yogesh Gautham said, “All 11 people at the farmhouse party have been charged with violating the Telangana Prohibition Act. We have invoked the NDPS Act against six people who tested positive (of crystal meth or cocaine). Three of them – Namis, Rohith and Risesh – have also been charged with violating the Arms Act.” Moinabad DCP Yogesh Gautham said. Rohith, Namis and Rishish have been arrested, while Mahesh Kumar and two other guests have been released on bail. An official said they were all asked to visit the Death Sentence Centre. During a drug bust on Saturday night, MP Mahesh Kumar allegedly passed a urine test by filling his sample cup with water from the restroom instead of urine. SP R Girdhar of the state’s elite anti-narcotics enforcement team (EAGLE) said: “A blood test conducted on Sunday found methamphetamine. The same test also confirmed drug abuse by five other persons who tested positive for cocaine.” Sources said CM N Chandrababu Naidu ordered the TDP to conduct an internal inquiry and directed Mahesh Kumar to stay away from party activities “until the issue is clarified”. The MP disputed the accusations and said he would “come clean”. BRS working president KT Rama Rao said he is willing to undergo a drug test anytime, responding to Telangana PCC chairman Mahesh Kumar Goud’s request to all public representatives to undergo such tests. In a raid on Saturday night, a team from EAGLE and Future City police scaled the wall of a farmhouse in Moinabad, about 30 km from Hyderabad, and discovered a high-profile party on sofas around a swimming pool, allegedly surrounded by hookahs, liquor and drugs. Police seized about two grams of a white substance. They suspect some of the medication was washed away. The package seized from Rohith’s driver Sharath Kumar has been sent for forensic examination. Investigators believe both cocaine and methamphetamine were used at the party. The seized drugs were allegedly brought by Kaushik from Shimla through his contacts.