the goan I network
MAPUSA
Goa’s famed tourism season kicked off with a tragedy, after a death from suspected drug overdose was reported from the coast of Anjuna.
On record though, police said that cause of death was yet to be certified.
Shashank Sharma (24) of Hyderabad is suspected to have died of a drug overdose after he along with two others, including his brother, were partying at a popular club in Anjuna on Sunday noon.
According to Anjuna Police, Shashank along with his brother and some friends had come to Goa and checked in at a hotel in Anjuna.
On Sunday, three youth, including the two brothers, from the group decided to attend a party at the Hilltop Club at around 1.30 on Sunday noon.
Police sources informed that the deceased boy stepped out of the club at around 2.30 pm, possibly to visit his room.
After half an hour, he joined his friends and after sometime suddenly complained of uneasiness and collapsed on the floor.
He was first moved to St Anthony Hospital in Anjuna and later shifted to Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim, where he died early Monday morning, police sources said.
“The cause of death is yet to be ascertained. The viscera has been preserved for chemical analysis,” said Anjuna PI C L Patil.
Sources in the police said that these youth came from well-to-do families and had allegedly arrived in Goa to party with the “stuff”.
The deceased who left the party midway may have gone to the room, consumed the “stuff” and returned to the club, where he collapsed, the same source said.
Anjuna Police after conducting the panchanama handed over the body to his brother.
The deceased was working for a private firm in Hyderabad.
A villager in the know informed The Goan that after breaking off for monsoon, for the first time, music was being played full blast at Hilltop Club on September 30.
A couple of clubs in the village of Anjuna are notorious for drug-related cases in the past and playing loud music till early in the morning despite complaints from the locals.
When contacted, Anjuna Sarpanch Savio Almeida said the entire government machinery was aware about the illicit activities and the prominent spots in the coastal belt, but remain mum for reasons best known to them.
“Certain spots in Anjuna are open secret where everything happens. Everyone knows about it but no one from the administration wants to speak,” Almeida said. “This clearly shows the government administration is inefficient,” he added.
He said panchayat has no control on such activities as these things happen after 7 pm.
