The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has clarified that it has not received any request, written or verbal, from actor Ranveer Singh to join the questioning of actor and wife Deepika Padukone, scheduled for Saturday.
It was widely reported on Friday that actor 83 had asked the agency for permission to be present in NCB’s office during Deepika’s interrogation session, citing an ‘anxiety’ issue. Ranveer had reportedly mentioned that Deepika sometimes had anxiety issues and faced panic attacks.
A report in India Today quoted NCB officials as saying: “There are questions about whether Ranveer Singh will join the investigation with Deepika Padukone. We confirm that we have not received any request of this type from any person summoned. The latest email received from the named person in question is just about joining the investigation. ”
Deepika, accompanied by her husband Ranveer, returned from Goa on Thursday. She, along with other Bollywood actors, including Sara Ali Khan and Rakul Preet Singh, has been cited by the NCB for an alleged drug nexus in Bollywood. Deepika was in Goa to film the next Shakun Batra movie, along with Ananya Panday and Siddhant Chaturvedi.
A Republic TV report, citing a source, had previously said that Ranveer had submitted an application to the NCB, stating that Deepika sometimes suffers from anxiety and panic attacks and therefore should be granted permission to be with her. . The request added him saying that, as he is a “law-abiding citizen,” he understood that he could not be present during her interrogation session, but had requested to be present at the OCN office.
Deepika is scheduled to appear before the NCB in Mumbai on Saturday. Rakul and Padukone manager Karishma Prakash will join the investigation on Friday, an NCB official said.
The NCB, which launched the investigation after a drug angle in connection with the alleged suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput came to light, has now expanded its investigation. According to an NCB official, the 34-year-old actor had previously acknowledged the subpoena sent by the central agency.
Prakash’s WhatsApp chats included drug conversations with a ‘D’ and the central agency wanted to know who this person was, NCB sources previously said.
(With PTI inputs)
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