Drugs case: NCB reviews investigations done so far

After hectic investigations that lasted over a month and saw the arrest of 20 persons including Sushant Singh Rajput’s live-in partner Rhea Chakraborty and the grilling to top Bollywood actors like Deepika Padukone, Rakul Preet Singh, Shradhha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of the cases.

“We will review and decide the plan of action,” NCB’s Deputy Director General Mutha Ashok Jain, who heads the south-west region of the bureau, said.

When asked about the investigations, Jain said, “We cannot say anything…we have told the court and would be telling the court. You must appreciate the fact that so many persons have been arrested and none of them have got bail so far…that speaks of our investigations.”

Read: NCB seizes mobile phones of Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Rakul Preet Singh: Report

While looking into the two cases – one involving the drug angle in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case (Cr No. 15/2020) and the larger Bollywood-drug cartel nexus (Cr No. 16/2020) – the NCB has managed to unearth the modus operandi of how drugs get supplied in Bollywood.

The NCB has also seized cellphones of several of the suspects who were grilled.

“The digital forensics of seized communication devices led to some workable information which was verified subsequently,” NCB officials said.

While the 15/2020 case is being overseen by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Joint Director Sameer Wankhede, the 16/2020 case is spearheaded by NCB Deputy Director (Operations) KPS Malhotra.

According to officials, the sourcing and supply operate like a well-oiled network and the contraband changes several hands before it reaches the end user.

NCB officials, however, have clarified that the ongoing probe into the Bollywood-drug mafia nexus has no connection to Shiromani Akali Dal leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa's complaint about the alleged drug party hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar at his residence in Mumbai in 2019.

The officials said that during the course of the probe, they have questioned and/or arrested drug peddlers, people in the film industry, executives, actors and talent managers.

People arrested so far:

Abbas Lakhani

Karan Arora

Zaid Vilatra

Abdel Basit Parihar

Samuel Miranda

Dipesh Sawant

Kaizan Ibrahim

Showik Chakraborty

Rhea Chakraborty

Anuj Keshwani

Ankush Arneja

Karamjeet Singh Anand

Sanket Patel

Sandeep Gupta

Aftab Ansari

Dwayne Fernandes

Suryadeep Malhotra

Chris Costa

Rahil Vishram

Kshitij Prasad