A court in Mumbai on Monday sent Shabana Saeed, the wife of Bollywood producer Firoz Nadiadwala, and four others to judicial custody till November 23, the Hindustan Times reported. The Narcotics Control Bureau had on Sunday arrested Saeed after investigators seized 10 grams of marijuana during a raid at her Juhu residence in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Saeed’s lawyer had moved a bail application on her behalf. The matter will be taken up on Tuesday. The others arrested have also been remanded to judicial custody till November 23.
Zonal Director of NCB Sameer Wankhede had on Sunday said that Saeed was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, PTI reported. “Further investigation is on,” Wankhede said, adding that Nadiadwala was summoned by the drugs agency earlier, but he did not show up.
The NCB official added that names of three suppliers were unearthed during investigation that cannot be revealed at this stage, according to the Hindustan Times. “We have seized commercial quantities of drugs from their possession in the entire operation,” he said.
The agency searched Nadiadwala’s home in Juhu on Sunday following the arrest of drug peddler Wahid Abdul Kadir Shaikh in Andheri West five days ago, The Indian Express reported. An investigation into Shaikh’s clients led the police to Shabana Saeed, who allegedly purchased 10 gm of cannabis from Shaikh.
“Firoz Nadiadwala’s wife Shabana Saeed was issued a notice under section 67 of the NDPS Act,” said an NCB officer. The agency issued her summons, recorded her statement and arrested her, the officer added.
The Narcotics Control Bureau has launched a crackdown on film personalities’ allegedly drug-fuelled lifestyles ever since it began investigating actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. The agency claimed to have unearthed a close nexus between illegal drug consumption and the film industry. On September 8, the NCB had arrested Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty in a drug case related to Rajput’s death, and also questioned Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan in the same matter.
The agency had described Chakraborty as an “active member of a drug syndicate”. She was granted bail on October 7.
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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