Drug trafficking: NCB hints at crackdown on Bollywood celebrities

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has hinted at tough action against Bollywood celebrities and drug suppliers in the coming few weeks in connection with the drugs trafficking case launched after Sushant Singh Rajput’s death in June.

The rumours of a possible big action got louder after NCB director general Rakesh Asthana returned to Delhi on Friday after paying a quiet visit to Mumbai on Thursday.

“You can expect some action in the next two weeks,” a senior NCB official told Hindustan Times, declining to reveal details at this stage.

The NCB has arrested more than 20 people in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case so far including actor Rhea Chakraborty, who got out on bail recently after spending nearly a month in jail. Her brother, Showik, is still in jail after the Mumbai high court ruled that Showik appeared to be “an important link in the chain of drug dealers”.

Even before Rhea Chakraborty was released on bail, the NCB had widened the its scope of investigation by questioning actors Deepika Padikone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor and Rakul Preet Singh, fashion designer Simone Khambatta and celebrity manager Shruti Modi.

An NCB official told Hindustan Times that “there are people who have a day job in the film industry but are also involved in the drugs racket.”

Also read: Won’t tolerate moves to ‘finish off Bollywood’: Uddhav on Sushant case coverage

Meanwhile, the NCB has busted a supply module in Kerala’s Kasaragod which, the investigation agency claims, was linked to Bollywood. The NCG officials are now tracking down the main narcotics suppliers to Mumbai.

NCB officials say that heroin and amphetamine make their way to Mumbai either through Afghanistan-Pakistan channel or via Mozambique-Maldives-Sri Lanka route while cocaine comes from South America, either via South Africa and other African countries.

The NCB is in touch with its counterparts in the United States, Britain, Canada and South Africa to crackdown on drug traffickers.