Bollywood drugs case: NCB searches Arjun Rampal’s house in Mumbai

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Monday (November 9) conducted searches at Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal’s home and office in Mumbai in connection with the drug allegations linked to the film industry.

According to reports, raids were conducted at three places – Andheri, Khar, and Bandra which include Rampal’s residence and office.

Recently, the NCB had arrested Rampal’s girlfriend Gabriella Demetriades’ brother Agisialos Demetriades, in another drug case.

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Yesterday, the NCB arrested Bollywood producer Firoz Nadiadwala’s wife, Shabana Saeed, after ganja was found at their residence in suburban Juhu, officials said.

NCB Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede told PTI that Firoz was summoned by the anti-drugs agency earlier in the day, but he failed to appear.

“We have arrested Firoz Nadiadwala’s wife under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Further investigation is on,” Wankhede said.

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A team of NCB sleuths searched the residence of the Nadiadwalas and seized 10 grams of ganja, officials said.

The probe into the Bollywood drugs case began after the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June. Actress Rhea Chakraborty, her brother, Showik Chakraborty, were arrested. Rhea was later released on bail.

Also, the NCB has so far questioned several actors including Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, in the alleged Bollywood-drugs nexus.

In September, Mutha Ashok Jain, Deputy DG, South-Western Region of NCB, said more than 18 persons were arrested in the case.

“The statements of Karishma Prakash, Sara Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Shraddha Kapoor have been recorded. Kshitij Prasad has been placed under arrested after questioning. No fresh summon has been issued today. We have arrested more than 18 people,” Jain was quoted as saying by ANI.

Talking about the drugs issue in Bollywood, actor Akshay Kumar had said in a short video last month, “I’ll be a liar if I say that this problem does not exist in our industry. It exists, just like every industry. But every person in every profession is not involved in such problems. This is impossible.”

Also last month, Kshitij Ravi Prasad, the former Dharmatic Entertainment executive producer arrested by the NCB in the Bollywood drugs case, told a special court in Mumbai that he has been “coerced into falsely implicating” actors Ranbir Kapoor, Dino Morea and Arjun Rampal by the agency officials.

The NCB dismissed these allegations as “false and baseless”.

In his statement before the court, the accused said, “Subsequent to my earlier statement, I have been repeatedly harassed and coerced into falsely implicating Ranbir Kapoor, Dino Morea and Arjun Rampal in the present proceedings. Despite me repeatedly stating that I don’t said persons…and have no knowledge of allegations against them (sic),” Prasad stated.

(With inputs from PTI)