Sandalwood drugs scandal: Sanjjanaa sent to jail for three days

Kannada actress Sanjjanaa Galrani has been remanded in judicial custody by a court until September 18.

Sanjjanaa, the second film star to be arrested in the Sandalwood drugs scandal after Ragini Dwivedi, was produced before the first additional chief metropolitan magistrate (ACMM) via video conference around 4 pm on Wednesday at the end of her police custody.

Since the CCB has already questioned Sanjjanaa and a few other suspects in custody three times, it didn’t ask for an extension in their police custody. After hearing the arguments of the public prosecutor, CCB officers and the defence counsel, the judge sent her to jail for three days.

The court also remanded in judicial custody celebrity party organiser Viren Khanna, suspended RTO clerk B K Ravi Shankar, techie Pratheek Shetty, business analyst Aditya Agarwal and Malleswaram jeweller Vaibhav Jain for 14 days. They have been arrested in the drugs cases registered at Banaswadi and Cottonpet police stations.

All the six suspects were shifted to the Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara by evening. Sanjjanaa has been lodged in a quarantine cell in the women’s barrack, where Ragini has also been put up. In the wake of Covid-19, new undertrials are first lodged in the quarantine cell and later shifted to regular cells.

Prior to being produced before the court, Sanjjanaa and others were subjected to medical tests at KC General Hospital in Malleswaram.

Ragini and other suspects Prashanth Ranka, Rahul Thonse, Niyaz Ahmed and Loum Pepper Samba are already in the prison.

Meanwhile, the CCB is likely to ask the court for the custodial interrogation of Khanna and Ravi Shankar, who were arrested in the Banaswadi drugs case. Their second interrogation will be in the Cottonpet drugs case. Since Khanna and Ravi Shankar are already in prison, the CCB will ask for their body warrant, CCB sources said.