The home of Kannada actor Sanjjanaa Galrani in Bengaluru was searched Tuesday by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) in connection with his investigation into a high-profile drug case allegedly involving singers and actors from the Kannada film industry, also known like Sandalwood.
Galrani, whose close assistant Rahul Shetty is already in police custody, has been invited to appear for questioning by the office.
The raid on Galrani’s home comes after actor Ragini Dwivedi was arrested in the case, in addition to 11 other people named in a First Information Report (FIR) filed at the Cottonpet Police Station. Dwivedi, whose request for bail was rejected by the first additional metropolitan magistrates court on Monday, has been placed in police custody until September 11.
Police have named Shivaprakash, who allegedly produced some of Dwivedi’s films, as the main defendant in the case. In addition to the producer and Dwivedi, the FIR also names Viren Khanna, Prashant Ranka, Vaibhav Jain, Abhiswamy, Aditya Alva, Simon, Prashant Babu, Ashwin, Rahul Tonse, Vinay and a Senegalese citizen, Loum Pepper. According to officials, Pepper was the main supplier of the drugs.
“All of these people, from defendant number 1 to defendant number 12, including Dwivedi, used to collude to hold (Rave) parties in different parts of Bengaluru and call many clients,” ACP Gautham said in its complaint, according to PTI.
“They used to get drugs from drug dealers to supply to businessmen, celebrities, some movie actors and actresses, disk jockeys, software engineers and others and they made money through illegal means and indulged in illegal activities,” he added.
All 12 defendants have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 120b (Criminal Conspiracy) and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) 1985 under sections 21, 21C, 27A, 27B and section 29.
In addition to these 12 people, a separate case has been registered against BK Ravishankar, an employee of the Road Transport Office, a close acquaintance of Ragini Dwivedi, police said.
As the war of words between Congress and the BJP continued on the case since Dwivedi campaigned for some of the ruling party’s candidates during the elections, Karnataka Prime Minister BS Yediyurappa has said that “it was not about to protect anyone ”.
“Our goal is to end the (drug) business that is having a negative impact on students and youth. We are doing everything necessary (to combat the threat of drugs), ”he said.
(With contributions from the agency)
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