A Doctor Used His Clout to Bypass COVID Restrictions For a Secret Rave

Electronic dance music and trippy LED lights filled the room as dozens of people gathered to party together in an isolated resort tucked away near an iconic Indian fort last weekend. That is, until they were all busted by the police. 

The secret party took place at a resort located at the foot of India’s 2000-year-old Sinhagad fort. Police arrested 10 people – six men and four women – who organised the party. 

However, the party’s main organiser, a local doctor named Nikhil Bhakare, managed to deceive the police and escape. 

“We received a tip about this party, and arrived to see people dancing and playing loud music without wearing masks, violating COVID-19 guidelines,” Niranjan Ranawade, a local police official from the Haveli district in the Indian state of Maharashtra, told VICE World News. 

Police are currently investigating the organisers and are on the lookout for Bhakare, a general physician who knew the resort’s owner and organised the secret party. “He invited his friends and had an illegal party. No drugs were found at the site,” clarified inspector Ranawade. 

According to an order issued by the local administration, clubs and restaurants are not allowed to operate during the weekend or beyond curfew hours. However, this has led to secret parties taking place in remote villages. 

“We are seeing a rise in [urban] Indians, especially those with a good network of connections, coming to rural areas to party,” said Ranawade.

Since May, police have busted at least nine secret parties in various parts of Maharashtra. 

On the same weekend, at least 40 people were caught illegally partying at two different clubs. According to the police, the club premises were completely locked up, while the owners’ refused to take any calls or messages. 

Last month, police busted a high profile rave party in the city of Nashik in Maharashtra, where 22 organisers including Bollywood actors and choreographers were arrested. Police said the party was a birthday rager held in two private bungalows where drugs like cocaine and weed were free-flowing. 

In May, police busted yet another farmhouse party attended mainly by 20-year-olds, 13 of whom were then arrested. 

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