Deepika's manager, from whose house drugs were recovered, is 'untraceable'

Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone’s manager Karishma Prakash, who was summoned by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the alleged Bollywood-drugs nexus case, is untraceable, said an official of the anti-drugs agency.

“Karishma Prakash, manager of actor Deepika Padukone, who was recently summoned by NCB, has not responded to the summons till now. She is untraceable,” ANI quoted the NCB official as saying on Monday (November 2).

Besides, the NCB has summoned the employees of KWAAN Talent Agency, the official said.

According to officials, Karishma was absconding after the agency recovered small quantities of drugs from her house last month. The agency had then issued her summons and pasted a notice on her door in this regard, it was earlier reported.

Related news: NCB finds drugs in the house of Deepika Padukone’s manager

The NCB had interrogated both Deepika and Karishma in the case. Deepika was grilled for six hours on September 26 during which she was reportedly confronted with Karishma by the officials. The actor was reportedly the admin of a WhatsApp group where people had discussed about drugs in 2017. Reports had said she had admitted the chats were hers but denied consuming or supplying drugs to anyone.

Karishma’s WhatsApp chats included conversations about drugs with one ‘D’ and the central agency wanted to find out who this person was, the NCB sources had earlier said.

Allegations of drugs use in Hindi film industry emerged during investigation into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14. His former girlfriend and actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik were arrested by the NCB in the drugs case. Rhea was later released.

Related news: Deepika broke down thrice during grilling in drugs case: Report

Besides Deepika, two other renowned actors – Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor – were also interrogated by the agency in the drugs case. Their names were reportedly given out by Rhea during her interrogation.

The agency conducted raids at many places in Mumbai and Goa and arrested drug dealers who allegedly supplied contraband to some of the stars it had interrogated.