Updated: September 27, 2020 9:29:25 pm
Karan Johar had said that he does not know Prasad personally and that neither he nor Dharma Productions can “take responsibility for what people do in their personal lives.” (Express photo by Dilip Kagda)
Kshitij Prasad, former executive producer of Dharmatic Entertainment, the sister company of Dharma Productions owned by Karan Johar, arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), told a court in Mumbai on Sunday that agency officials forced him to falsely implicate Johar or other executives from the film production company.
NCB (Southwest) Deputy General Manager Mutha Ashok Jain refuted the allegations, saying the investigations were being conducted in a “professional” manner.
Prasad (30), who was part of Dharmatic Entertainment in November 2019, was arrested on Saturday in connection with an FIR filed to investigate alleged drug use in Bollywood, and the NCB alleged that a “joint believed to be remains of smoked ganja “were seized from their home. The NCB told the court that, according to the statement of another defendant in the case, Prasad had made bank and cash payments in the amount of 3,500 rupees each time for the purchase of ganja about 12 times between May and July 2020.
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Prasad was produced by videoconference before the metropolitan magistrate on Sunday. Attorney Satish Maneshinde said he informed the court that Prasad was “harassed and blackmailed” into making a statement.
The lawyer said that Prasad had told the court that his statement was recorded by Sameer Wankhede, in charge of the Bombay unit of the NCB, “into which several evidently false statements were inserted despite his protests”, and the statement it was not recorded according to his narration.
Maneshinde said that Prasad was not told if he was under arrest or allowed to speak to his lawyer, but was told that he would have to spend the night at the NCB office on Friday because his statement had not yet been completed.
“NCB officers, apart from Sameer Wankhede, were courteous to Kshitij and provided him with a comfortable sleeping arrangement. The next morning, when the recording of his statement resumed, Kshitij was categorically informed by Sameer Wankhede in the presence of several other officers that since he was associated with Dharma Productions, they would release him if he implicated Karan Johar. Kshitij refused to comply with this despite pressure on him, as he did not know any of these people personally and did not wish to falsely implicate anyone, ”Maneshinde said.
Wankhede refuted the accusations against him, saying that “it is routine practice for defendants to make such accusations.”
Speaking about the allegations that Kshitij was asked to implicate Johar and others, Deputy General Manager Jain said: “The investigation is being conducted in a professional manner and there is no intended target other than what was revealed during the investigation. . The accusations are absolutely false. “
The NCB, while seeking custody of Prasad in court on Sunday, submitted that the arrested defendant Ankuh Arneja had said in his deposition that he supplied hashish to Prasad through the defendant Sanket Patel on several occasions. Patel, who was arrested and granted bail, is alleged to have told the OCN that he delivered 50 grams of ganja to Prasad outside his Andheri residence about 12 times between May and July 2020. He smoked ganja ”and certain documents and gadgets from your home. He claimed that Prasad is “indirectly related to the defendant Anuj Keshwani from whom commercial quantities of narcotics were seized.”
“It is therefore necessary to question in depth who was delivering contraband in Bollywood,” the NCB said in its request for pretrial detention. NCB also told the court that Prasad was not cooperating with the investigation and sought his custody until October 5.
Metropolitan Magistrate VJ Dongre said in his order granting custody to the OCN until October 3 that, due to the seriousness of the crime, the detailed custody questioning of the accused is “justifiable to reveal the truth.” He also said that Prasad had not complained of any physical abuse.
Maneshinde said that Prasad had told the court that due to his refusal, he was forced to sit on the floor with Wankhede putting his shoe close to Prasad’s face, which “traumatized” him. Maneshinde said that as he was “extremely fatigued and shocked” after 48 hours in custody, he requested to be allowed to speak to a lawyer or family member.
“Sameer Wankhede informed him that if he wanted a call granted, he should sign the statement they had prepared and that he could retract later. Kshitij was not aware of the legalities involved and had never come across this term “retraction of declaration”. Sameer Wankhede later informed him that if he did not sign the statement, the pressure would continue to mount and he would not be given access to his family or his lawyer. At the end of almost 50 hours of interrogation, humiliation and torment, Kshitij is desperate to speak with his lawyer or his family, reluctantly and under threats he signed the statement, “said Maneshinde.
NCB sources confirmed that Kshitij had been questioned on Friday and had been detained. He was placed under arrest on Saturday.
On Saturday, a statement released by Johar said that he does not know Prasad personally and that he or Dharma Productions cannot “be held responsible because of what people do in their personal lives ”.
“These accusations do not belong to Dharma Productions,” the statement said.
So far, 20 have been arrested in the case, including actress Rhea Chakraborty.
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