The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested Australian national Paul Bartel on Friday in connection with the alleged drug abuse case linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Bartel was questioned for about six hours Thursday by NCB after it was discovered that he was in contact with the arrested defendant and drug supplier Agisilaos Demetriades, a South African citizen and brother of actor Arjun Rampal’s girlfriend Gabriella. Bartel’s arrest brings the total number of defendants detained in the case to 26.
NCB Zone Director Sameer Wankhede confirmed that Bartel was arrested in the drug case in which actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik were previously arrested.
“Bartel was questioned on Thursday and was called to the NCB office Friday morning and arrested on the NDPS consumption and conspiracy charges,” Wankhede said.
Also read: Bollywood drug case: NCB questions actor Arjun Rampal
Bartel lives in Bandra (West) and is an architect by profession. He is in contact with several entrepreneurs who are on construction sites. After questioning Agisilaos, the agency learned that Bartel used to buy drugs from him. He is now investigating whether or not he was involved in supplying drugs to others, an NCB official said.
NCB officials searched Paul’s residence without recovering. NCB sources have said they have found electronic evidence against Arjun and Gabriella after Agisilaos’ arrest and a second case was registered against Agisilaos.
Also read: Arjun Rampal arrives at NCB’s office in Mumbai to be questioned in drug case
On October 28, NCB arrested businessman Nikhil Saldanha, 30, of Bandra in an SSR case. In the last week of October, NCB had questioned actor Deepika Padukone’s manager, Karishma Prakash, and also conducted a search of Prakash’s residence in Versova and found 1.7 grams of hashish and three bottles of CBD (cannabis) oil. . During the investigation, it was discovered that Nikhil was in contact with Agisilaos. Nikhil used to buy drugs from Demetriades and was arrested for using weed and marijuana.
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