Kannada actress Sanjjanaa Galrani arrested in drug case

The Bengaluru police arrested Kannada actress Sanjjanaa Galrani on Tuesday (September 8) as part of the ongoing probe into alleged link between Kannada film industry and the drug mafia.

The Central Crime Branch searched Sanjjanaa Galrani’s house in Indiranagar on Tuesday morning following a court order. She was then taken in for questioning before being arrested. Another Kannada actress, Ragini Dwivedi, was arrested recently on charges of drug-peddling.

“There are many verticals. Drug use and abuse has got no distinctions. All sections of society have gone into this. As a government it is our responsibility to ensure this menace is contained. Under the leadership of the Chief Minister, we are trying our best to break all kind of vertical supply chain, sources and users,” Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan said.

Ragini Dwivedi’s police custody was extended by another five days on Monday.

Police sources said that Sanjjanaa was being watched by the crime branch since her friend Rahul, a realtor, was charged in the drug case. Six people have been arrested in the case so far. Galrani’s arrest came after the interrogation of a person named Nayaz on Monday, said sources.

Police say a person named Ravi Shankar, who was arrested on Thursday, has links within the Kannada film industry. He is a clerk with the Road Transport Office. The court sent him to five days of police custody.

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Viren Khanna, who was arrested on the day Ragini Dwivedi was taken into custody, is considered an important link the case. “Khanna is the main person who organises big parties where drugs are consumed. He was in Delhi and two CCB police inspectors had gone to Delhi to arrest him,” police officer Sandeep Patil had said last Friday. Police had found a fake police uniform in Khanna’s house during search.

Born in Bengaluru, Sanjjanaa Galrani made her film debut in a Tamil movie “Oru Kadhal Seiveer” in 2006. She has also acted in the Kannada film “Ganda Hendathi”.

The whole investigation started a couple of weeks ago when Kannada filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh, brother of the late activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh, shared information with the crime branch about the alleged use of drugs in the Kannada film industry. “I am grateful that Kamal Pant (Bengaluru police chief) has taken this initiative. I want the industry to get justice and be cleaned up,” Lankesh said.

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