Tracing events that led to Gajjala Vivekanand's arrest in Radisson Hotel's drugs case

Hyderabad: Gajjala Vivekanand, the son of prominent BJP leader Gajjala Yoganand and director of Manjeera Group of companies was arrested in a drug case police raided Radisson Blue Hotel, Gachibowli, on Sunday night. The hotel was also owned by the BJP leader.

The police raids by the Special Operations Team (SOT) of Cyberabad and Gachibowli police happened a few minutes after Vivekanand left the hotel after a party with his friends. While his friends were found with drugs in the hotel room, Vivekanand was arrested at his residence.

What happened on February 25 night?

On February 25, the sub-inspector of Gachibowli police Sobhan Baby received credible information about people in room no 1200/1204 of Radisson Hotel, Gachibowli, consuming drugs. The police obtained permission and proceeded with a raid.

When the teams reached the hotel at 12:50 am, Arpan Benarji the concierge at the front took them to room 1200/1204. In the rooms, they found a few persons inside and they immediately seized three empty plastic covers and one white paper roll inside the room. Traces of white powder traces were found on them.

During the raid, the receptionist informed that Gajiala Vivekanand, the son of the hotel owner, regularly parties with his friends in the said two rooms. On February 25 too, Vivekanand and his friends came and partied. However, Vivekanand left for his house before the police came.

The Clues team proceeded to Vivekanand’s home at Road No 70 in Jubilee Hills. They knocked the gate but there was no response. At about 6 am on February 26, Vivekanand opened the gate and came outside. He was taken into custody and his statement was recorded.

In the confession, Vivekanand said that he, along with eight friends, partied at their hotel room No 1200/1204 on February 25, and got a few packets of drugs (cocaine), which he bought from a person named Abbas. While he left at about 12:30 am, his friends remained in the hotel room.

According to DCP Vineeth, their current investigation is to uncover additional details about the seized drugs, potential drug peddlers, and other individuals associated with the incident.