The Hyderabad Police on Friday took Edwin Nunes, the owner of Curlies beach shack and nightclub in Goa, into custody in connection with a drug case registered in August on charges of being a “main supplier” of narcotics that were making their way to Hyderabad, his legal representatives said.
Nunes was among those arrested in August in connection with the alleged murder of Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and social media artiste Sonali Phogat. Phogat had died on August 23 of a suspected overdose hours after she was seen in Curlies with her aides – who are the main accused in the case.
Nunes had been granted bail in the case in September but was required to appear before Goa Police for questioning.
On Thursday, he was re-arrested by the Goa Police for submitting a fake Covid-19 certificate in a bid to avoid questioning.
“As per his bail order he was called on several occasions at Anjuna Police Station in the month of November 2022 for investigation purposes but he had produced a fake covid certificate of a private diagnostics lab and evaded investigation. Hence the Anjuna Police had lodged another FIR against him for submitting a forged document before the Police Station,” deputy superintendent of police, Jivba Dalvi, said in a statement.
The Goa Police, while not releasing an official statement about Nunes arrest by the Hyderabad Police, handed Nunes over to the Hyderabad Police after his Goa Police custody ended. The Goa Police had earlier notified their Hyderabad counterparts that Nunes was in their custody. Nunes was denied anticipatory bail by the Hyderabad sessions court as well as the Telangana High Court which asked him to surrender to the police.
“He was arrested by a team of the Hyderabad Police who were camping in Goa ever since he was re-arrested,” a member of his team said.
The police have also approached the court for cancellation of bail granted to Nunes claiming that he had violated the conditions of the bail.
The case in Hyderabad was registered in August after alleged drug peddler Preeetesh Borkar had named him as one of the suppliers.
In the aftermath of Phogat’s death, a portion of Curlies was demolished after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) dismissed an appeal against an order by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority that had ordered its demolition for being in violation of the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) notification.
The Phogat death case has since been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
