Kshitij Prasad was called to NCB officials on Thursday.
Mumbai:
Film executive Kshitij Prasad, who was arrested last week by the Bureau of Narcotics Control in an ever-widening drug investigation related to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, was “harassed and blackmailed” by agency officials. anti-drug investigation, his lawyer Satish Maneshinde told Mumbai court on Sunday. Prasad was “forced to falsely implicate” filmmaker Karan Johar and his other top executives, the lawyer stressed.
“NCB officers said they would release me if I implicated Karan Johar, Somel Mishra, Rakhi, Apoorva, Neeraj or Rahil,” the lawyer said, citing him in court. Investigative officers “asked me to falsely allege that they were using drugs,” he said. “I refused to comply with this despite the pressure put on me, as I did not know any of these people personally … and did not want to falsely implicate anyone,” Prasad was quoted as saying.
One of the investigating officers, Sameer Wankhede, has been named in the attorney’s statement. “Sameer Wankhede told him (Kshitij Prasad) that since he did not want to cooperate, he would teach him a lesson and make him sit on the floor next to his chair. Sameer Wankhede then put his foot shoe close to Kshitij’s face and proclaimed that this was his truth aukadstate), “the lawyer told the court, adding that other officers” laughed at this difficult situation. “
The incident “severely traumatized Kshitij, who had never been in this type of situation before. After more than 48 hours in such custody, he was extremely fatigued and shocked. He requested to speak to Sameer Wankhede alone and asked if he had offended him.” . Maneshinde told the court, noting that Prasad “also reiterated that he would very much like to speak with his lawyer or his family.”
“Sameer Wankhede informed him that if he wanted to be granted a call, he should sign the statement they prepared, which he could retract later. Kshitij was unaware of the legalities involved and had never come across this term of ‘statement retraction'” Al At the end of nearly 50 hours of interrogation, humiliation and torment, Kshitij is desperate to speak to his lawyer or his family, reluctantly and under threats he signed the statement, “said Mr. Maneshinde.
Last week, Karan Johar had denied claims that Kshitij Prasad was associated with his company, Dharma Productions. Prasad joined Dharmatic Entertainment, a company linked to Dharma Productions, in November 2019 as one of the executive producers under contract for a project that ultimately did not materialize, Johar said.
“Neither I nor Dharma Productions can be held responsible for what people do in their personal lives. These accusations do not belong to Dharma Productions,” Karan Johar said in a statement. “I would like to state again unequivocally that I do not use narcotics and do not promote or encourage the use of any of those substances,” he said.
On Sunday, Satish Maneshinde said: “Kshitij Prasad was presented today (Sunday) for arrest before the Metropolitan Chief Magistrate of Ld Addl via videoconference. Before the proceedings began, I informed the magistrate that Kshitij was harassed and blackmailed into making a declaration also third degree and ill-treatment “.
Kshitij Prasad was called up by the NCB officials on Thursday (September 24), when he was in Delhi; they wanted to search their house in Mumbai. He returned to Mumbai the next day.
The NCB team “found nothing in the house other than one end of a dry, stale cigarette butt on the balcony,” and the team “began to insist that it was a marijuana joint,” their attorney said. “At the insistence of his wife, the word ‘believed’ was a marijuana the joint was inserted into the panchnama (investigation record), “said his attorney.
He was taken to the investigative agency office with two other friends on Friday.
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