M A I N   N E W S

Rahul gets 2-day police remand
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 6
Slain BJP leader Pramod Mahajan's son Rahul, arrested on charges of drug abuse, was today remanded to two-day police custody by a local court.

Metropolitan Magistrate A K Chaturvedi sent him to police custody till June 8 as he was produced before the court by the Delhi police after his discharge from Apollo hospital.

Rahul was arrested last evening on charges of consumption of drugs under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

The police had sought five days of remand to interrogate Rahul, booked under various provisions of the NDPS Act, but Mr.Chaturvedi granted only two-day custody.

The police informed the court that Rahul had admitted to having consumed drugs and given it to others, which amounted to distribution of narcotics under the Act.

Seeking five-day custody, they said they needed to ascertain the source of the drug.

However, defense counsel argued that the FIR filed in the case by the police was "very vague" as it did not mention the quantity of drugs allegedly consumed by Rahul and others on Thursday night.

"It merely says a small quantity of drugs was consumed by them," he said.

While a key aide of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, BB Moitra, died, Rahul was admitted to Apollo hospital in a serious condition in the wee hours of Friday after a late night party at his 7, Safdarjung Road residence.

Earlier, Rahul Mahajan, who was arrested on charges of drug abuse, was discharged from Apollo Hospital where he was admitted in a critical condition in the wee hours of Friday.

He was declared "fit for discharge" after doctors examined him this morning and found that his vital parameters were normal and he was mentally stable, a medical bulletin issued by the hospital said.

Dressed in a white shirt and blue denims, a tired-looking Rahul Mahajan came out of the hospital in a wheel chair shortly after 3 pm. He was flanked by his sister Poonam.

Delhi Police personnel, who were waiting for him to be discharged, immediately drove him to the Tughlaq Road Police Station in a Toyota Qualis vehicle.