Mumbai: Orhan “Orry” Awatramani — the internet personality who once baffled Bollywood by declaring he “isn’t a worker but a liver” — has now found himself at the centre of a far more serious script. Mumbai’s Anti-Narcotics Cell has summoned the influencer after a drug trafficker alleged that he attended high-end parties in Mumbai and Dubai linked to a Dawood Ibrahim associate. Awatramani, has been summoned for questioning in connection with a Rs 252 crore mephedrone (MD) drug trafficking case.
The case dates back to March 2024 when the Mumbai Police uncovered a large-scale mephedrone manufacturing unit on a farm in Maharashtra’s Sangli district and seized over 126 kg of the drug, valued at around Rs 252 crore, reported the NDTV. The investigation gained pace with the deportation and arrest of Mohammad Salim Mohammad Suhail Shaikh (also known as Salim Shaikh or Lavish) from Dubai in November this year. Notably, Shaikh is an alleged close associate of the fugitive drug kingpin Salim Dola (a key member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang) and his son Taher, the NDTV report claims.
Quick rewind, here’s what made Orry famous, check here:
Orry: I am
Living hence I am a LIVER 😭😭😭😭💃#Orry #BiggBoss— Jen 🍷 (@DsouzaJennifer) November 22, 2023
According to the ANC’s remand note, Mohammed Salim Suhail Shaikh, alias Lavish, claimed during interrogation that he organised elite parties frequented by celebrities, politicians and socialites. Among those he named were Alishah Parkar, the son of Dawood Ibrahim’s deceased sister; actors Nora Fatehi and Shraddha Kapoor; Siddharth Kapoor; producers Abbas–Mustan; rapper Loka; NCP leader Zeeshan Siddique; and Orry.
Shaikh, who was deported from Dubai earlier this month, allegedly confessed to running multiple drug-manufacturing operations and a distribution chain supplying cocaine, MDMA, mephedrone, hashish and charas. He also detailed the use of luxury vehicles to move narcotics and the use of hawala routes to channel profits overseas.
Investigators stressed that the allegations are unverified and said Orry will be questioned first to establish the credibility of Shaikh’s claims. The ANC will then decide whether others named in the statement need to be summoned.
Orry’s representatives have informed the police that he is currently out of town and will be available for questioning only after November 25, following which the ANC will fix a date for his appearance.
Police believe he was tied to a wider network operating under the protection of the Dawood syndicate.
