The Narcotics Control Bureau on Sunday arrested five people in Mumbai, including television actor Preetika Chauhan, in a drugs case, Hindustan Times reported. Chauhan, who has worked in several TV serials like Maa Vaishnodevi, CID, was arrested when she was buying drugs in Versova area of the city, while a Tanzanian national was caught with cocaine from South Mumbai.
The anti-drug agency also arrested three other peddlers and seized charas, MDMA and methamphetamine. All the five accused were produced in the court on Sunday and sent to judicial custody till November 8.
The NCB received a tip and deployed officers in plain clothes at three places on Saturday. Two people were arrested from Mohammad Ali Road in Masjid Bunder area and Versova. “The team succeeded in affecting a seizure of 99 grams of ganja from their possession,” an official told The Indian Express. The accused were arrested under various sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
NCB officials are reportedly investigating every possible link of the accused in the case, including suppliers, peddlers and consumers.
On September 8, the agency had arrested Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty in a drug case related to Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, and also questioned Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan in the matter. However, Chakraborty was granted bail on October 7. “The investigation did not reveal any recovery either from Rhea or from the house of Sushant Singh Rajput,” the Bombay High Court order said.
Investigation into Rajput’s death also put Bollywood in muddied waters after the Narcotics Control Bureau claimed to have unearthed a close nexus between illegal drug consumption and the film industry. On October 12, top Bollywood filmmakers and producers filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court against “irresponsible reporting by certain media houses” around Rajput’s death. The lawsuit was filed against Republic TV and Arnab Goswami and Pradeep Bhandari of the channel; and Times Now and its prominent anchors Rahul Shivshankar and Navika Kumar.
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