Actress Ragini took Ecstasy pills twice, claims CCB officer

Ragini Dwivedi has reportedly confessed to having consumed MDMA pills on two occasions, according to a police officer who's questioning her in a drugs case. It's not clear if the actress consumed the contraband recently.

MDMA, or Ecstasy, is a psychotropic drug used for recreational purposes. Its sale and consumption are banned in India.

Ragini, 30, was arrested on Friday from her Yelahanka home as part of a police investigation into drug use by celebrities. Police launched the investigation after filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh claimed that many celebrities do drugs. A court has remanded Ragini in police custody for three days. Her friend Ravi Shankar, an RTO clerk, was also arrested in the case and has been suspended from government service.

Ragini has been housed at the Government State Home for Women on Hosur Main Road, said a senior officer of the Central Crime Branch (CCB), which is investigating the case. Unlike other suspects, she wasn't taken to the CCB head office. "We are following the standard operating procedure and cannot disclose the details of the investigation," a senior officer said.

Contrary to reports that Ragini wasn't cooperating in the investigation, saying she's sick, a CCB officer said they did question her "for some time" on Saturday. Ragini had complained about her health to the magistrate during a virtual hearing on Friday. Police inspector Anjumala T Nayak and her team questioned her and recorded her statement, the officer said.

If the CCB sources are to be believed, Ragini has confessed to having consumed drugs supplied by Ravi Shankar. CCB officers had said that they found cigarettes reportedly stuffed with marijuana during the raid on her house. The cigarettes have been sent for forensic examination. The sources, however, said Ragini hadn't yet been subjected to a medical test to verify whether she had taken drugs recently. Former police officers say she should have been subjected to the test by now because any delay would mean the result would come back negative.

Life in police custody

Ragini's life in police custody is far removed from her otherwise luxurious lifestyle. She has been confined in a separate room and is guarded by four policewomen. On Friday night, she was served rice-sambar for dinner. On Saturday, she was given idli-vada for breakfast and chapati, rice-sambar for lunch.

Her family, including mother Rohini, tried to meet her at the women's home. They had brought her clothes and home-cooked food.

Speaking to reporters, Rohini said the allegations against her daughter were "false" and suggested that she was "framed". "She would come out clean. You just wait and watch," she told the reporters.