Filmmaker and journalist Indrajit Lankesh claimed Tuesday that at least 15 people in the Kannada film industry were involved in drug trafficking.
He made the claim a day after filing with the police to share information about the alleged drug trafficking that operates in the film industry.
“I’ve given (names of) about 15 people that I know are in the drug business. I shared those names with the police,” Lankesh told PTI.
Lankesh was questioned for nearly five hours by the Central Crime Branch on Monday for his statement that there were many people in the film industry who were in the drug business, either as consumers or as sellers.
Also read: Karnataka has declared a war on drugs: Basavaraj Bommai
The filmmaker made the statement in the wake of the Narcotics Control Office breaking up a drug trafficking scandal here and saying that some “prominent musicians and actors” in Karnataka were under its scanner.
The filmmaker said he wanted to expose drug use in the industry.
“There are celebrities when they start smoking and start using cocaine, they are the brand ambassadors of today’s youth. These people think it’s great …”, he added.
Also read: It is true that some actors use drugs: the Canadian filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh
Lankesh said he suspected some of the parties organized at the “Sandalwood” were organized by drug mafias within the industry.
Lankesh did not rule out the possibility that the Mumbai underworld is behind supplying drugs to a section of people in the Kannada film industry.
Meanwhile, police said they were investigating the matter.
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